Rookie Caelan Tiongson impressed in his debut igniting Rain or Shine’s second-quarter blitz on its way to a 110-97 win over Blackwater for a strong start in Group B of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Filipino-American was as good as advertised, bringing energy off the bench to back import Aaron Fuller on offense while another newcomer Felix Pangilinan-Lemetti made significant contributions for the Elasto Painters.
Fuller registered a double-double of 24 points on an efficient 9-of-11 field goal shooting and pulled down 19 rebounds to pace Rain or Shine, which showed complete team effort for the dominating win.
“Our focus was really just to be able to play our game. Fast-paced game, we wanted the guys to feel good about taking their shots when they’re open and moving the ball. In the first half we had 19 assists,” Elasto Painters coach Yeng Guiao said.
“I’m very happy with the way we shared the ball and I’m happy with the performances of our rookies. Caelan and Felix played well.”
Tiongson dropped 15 markers, Santi Santillan had 12, Pangilinan-Lemetti added 11 while Gian Mamuyac delivered 10 points for the Elasto Painters, who had 29 assists.
Rain or Shine blew the game wide-open in the third outscoring the Bossing, 24-12, capped by a Tiongson jumper and a Pangilinan-Lemetti trey for the game’s biggest separation, 83-62, heading into payoff period.
Blackwater despite a terrible outing from import Ricky Ledo somehow showed some semblance of resistance in the fourth quarter, cutting down its deficit to 102-92 with 1:16 left only for Anton Asistio to dash the Bossing’s comeback hopes with a dagger three.
Tiongson checked into the game in the second quarter and the No. 7 overall pick in the last Draft made his magic.
The sweet-shooting guard scored 11 points in the second canto including eight in the Elasto Painters’ 10-4 run for a 59-50 lead at the half.
Rain or Shine effectively tore through the defense of Blackwater with good ball movement, tallying 19 assists in the first half to spread the offense.
The Elasto Painters forced the Bossing to commit 10 turnovers, which they converted into 14 turnover points in the first 24 minutes of action.
Second overall pick Sedrick Barefield made his first three field goals off the bench in the first quarter for a promising start in his Blackwater debut.
But he went cold quickly as he missed the next five attempts and even went scoreless in the second quarter.
It was worse for import Ledo as he went 0-of-11 in the first half and only nailed his field goal with 7:54 left in the third quarter with Blackwater already down big, 54-67.
Ledo had a forgettable outing with 12 points off an atrocious 4-of-23 field goal shooting including five missed attempts from the four-point area and had six rebounds.