Rain or Shine escapes Gin Kings, levels series to 1-1
James Yap and Reggie Johnson delivered in crunch time to lift Rain or Shine to a 109-100 win over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Thursday in Game 2 of their best-of-five semis match up in Season 43 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
The series is now even at 1-1.
Down by three points, 97-100, with 3:25 remaining, the Elasto Painters ignited a 12-0 blast anchored on Yap and Johnson’s play that resulted in a 109-100 lead with 35 seconds left in the game. RoS held on to the lead until the final buzzer.
“I’m really proud of my players right now. They came out and played hard,” said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia. “We were down again in the first quarter, but we didn’t give up. In the end, we won it because we hit the bigger shots. We played great defense in the last three minutes.”
Johnson posted 20 of his 25 points in the second half in addition to 20 rebounds, eight assists and three blocks while James Yap contributed 18 points. Gabe Norwood finished with 12 points, while Chris Tiu and Raymond Almazan finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively, also for Rain or Shine.
Justin Brownlee scored 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Gin Kings.
Game 3 is set on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Scores:
Rain or Shine 109 – Johnson 25, Yap 18, Norwood 12, Tiu 11, Almazan 10, Borboran 9, Daquioag 9, Nambatac 6, Belga 5, Ahanmisi 4, Ponferada 0, Washington 0.
Ginebra 100 – Brownlee 29, Slaughter 20, Tenorio 17, Thompson 14, Chan 8, Devance 5, Caguioa 4, Ferrer 3, Cruz 0, Mercado 0.
Quarters: 26-36, 57-57, 87-87, 109-100.
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