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Rain or Shine's Andrei Caracut. PBA Images
MANILA — Rain or Shine is the first team to secure a spot in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner's Cup semifinals.
The third-seeded Elasto Painters, defying results from the first game date of the quarterfinals, maximized their twice-to-beat bonus and ousted San Miguel, 113-104, in their playoff encounter on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, Rizal.
Andrei Caracut caught fire in the match, with Bella Belen and her Capital1 teammates watching on the sidelines, carrying the offensive load with 29 points on 6-of-12 clip from the three-point line, adding six rebounds, five assists, and one steal.
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It was his long-distance makes which spelled the difference late, sparking a decisive 15-5 run — from only a one-point lead, 93-92 — with two treys and one conversion from the four-point arc to establish a 108-97 lead.
Caelan Tiongson joined the party with a triple from the corner, capping the run that expanded their lead to 11. He finished with 23 points and seven assists, mirroring the scoring output of his import, Jaylen Johnson, who also had 23 and 12 rebounds.
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Adrian Nocum was the other Elasto Painter in twin-digit scoring with 18 markers to go along with six assists.
"Siguro, araw namin talaga," said coach Yeng Guiao during the postgame press conference. "Pero kung dumating 'to ng Sunday, I don't think tatalunin namin sila."
On the other hand, the sixth seed SMB has faced elimination, with reinforcement and Gilas Pilipinas naturalization candidate Bennie Boatwright leading the pack with 24 points and seven rebounds.
CJ Perez added 19 points, while nine-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo added a usual double-double statline of 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The Scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 113 – Caracut 29, Tiongson 23, Johnson 23, Nocum 18, Asistio 6, Clarito 6, Malonzo 4, Mamuyac 2, Santillan 2, Villegas 0, Manaytay 0
SAN MIGUEL 104 – Boatwright 24, Perz 19, Trollano 14, Fajardo 12, Cruz 12, Rosales 10, Ross 7, Lassiter 3, Tautuaa 3, Brondial 0
QUARTERS: 27-27, 57-56, 83-83, 113-104