ANTIPOLO CITY. — Rain or Shine rookie big man Caelan Tiongson cut down the ring’s net in a goaltending violation off a drive by Converge center Justin Arana with 4:19 to go in the fourth quarter Sunday night.
When all the dust settled, the Elasto Painters moved eight more wins giving their players—their newcomers like Tiongson—the chance to do the traditional cutting of the nets when they reach the Promised Land.
Bolstered by a fiery fourth-quarter breakaway, Rain or Shine turned back Converge 112-103 in their knockout duel in the quarterfinals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center here.
Tiongson’s unintentional move that tore the net forced a delay of nearly five minutes but not the Painters’ trip to the best-of-7 semifinals against the TNT Tropang Giga.
The pro league will take a 16-day break and will kick off the semis on Feb. 26 to give way to Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
There’s just simply a lot of pride and fight in his charges as the keys that spelled the big difference for Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.
“We’re very happy. This is what we’ve been trying to achieve. In the past two conferences, we made it to the semifinals so it would be a pity if we did not make it to the semifinals this conference. It’s also a validation of the hard work that the guys put in, the togetherness and the camaraderie that they have,” Guiao said. “It’s also a testimony to the progress of the team in general to be in the semifinals for three consecutive conferences.
“For an independent team, to be able to do that, I think it indicates we have some consistency at least in forming as a team and ang ano ko rito, you hang around long enough, maybe you’ll make it into the finals,” he added.
Hardworking import Deon Thompson wound up with a game-high 34 points, to go with 12 rebounds, and seven assists for the Painters while Adrian Nocum chipped in 25 markers, five boards, and five dimes.
Andrei Caracut and Jhonard Clarito also had 14 and 11 points, respectively, for No. 6 Rain or Shine, whose triumph in Game 2 served as a fitting follow-up to a 114-104 victory in the second tiff last Friday.
The third-ranked FiberXers zoomed to the head start in the race-to-2 series after a 130-118 whipping of Rain or Shine in the Last Eight but failed to close out the battle in two tries.
The Painters took a 50-45 lead at the halfway mark and still held an 80-77 buffer going into the final stanza.
A Caracut three-pointer stretched Rain or Shine’s lead to as much as 94-82 with 8:42 remaining.
Alec Stockton paced Converge with 26 points and six feeds while reinforcement Cheick Diallo added 19 markers and 13 caroms.
Justine Baltazar, Arana, and Schonny Winston also got 16, 15, and 14 points, respectively, for the FiberXers.
After three semis bids that all ended in a whimper, the Painters are now more determined than ever to get over the hump and win it all after ruling the same edition of the mid-season tilt in 2016.
