GUARD Andrei Caracut and big man Leonard Santillan more than made up for the sudden absence of import Greg Smith II as Rain or Shine essayed a Houdini escape against gritty Terrafirma last night.
Santillan scored on a clutch under goal stab off a Rey Nambatac pass with .7 second left that lifted the Elasto Painters to a nail-biting 120-118 victory over the Dyip for their second straight win in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Terrafirma still had a glimmer of hope in its final offensive thrust but reinforcement Jordan Williams missed on his last-gasp triple try at the buzzer.
Foremost among those who stepped up for the Painters in lieu of Smith, who was forced to sit out the match after failing to get a clearance from his former team Leones in the Dominican Republic, was Caracut.
The spitfire former La Salle standout scattered a career-best 25 points built on six treys, on top of two rebounds and three assists while Santillan chipped in 21 markers, six boards and two dimes.
Gabe Norwood, Nambatac, and Anton Asistio also had 18, 14, and 10 points, respectively, for the Painters, who went into the battle armed with a 122-117 decision over Blackwater five days ago and improved to 2-4.
The Dyip failed to recover from a 109-131 ripping at the hands of TNT last Saturday and fell to 2-4 in the Third Conference.
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao was elated no end with the fight his charges showed despite missing Smith.
“Naghanda kami with Greg, so iyong game plan namin involved talaga siya, he had a big role in our game plan since he is really familiar with the way Jordan Williams plays. They’re good buddies. They played against each other in the Dominican Republic so we thought that would really be a good match up,” Guiao said. “Pero iyon nga ang nangyari, nagka-problema. So, the talk in the dugout was everyone had to make a contribution.
“Step up, everyone must make an effort. We feel good about our locals, especially we’re running our system in putting up an effort on defense. Naramdaman ko rin na the guys were determined to win without Greg,” he added.
