Games today:
(Ynares Center-Antipolo)
5:15 p.m. — Titan Ultra vs San Miguel Beer
7:30 p.m. — Phoenix vs Meralco
Rain or Shine came back from 18 points down in the first half and survived the ejection of import Jaylen Johnson to spoil TNT and its celebrated reinforcement Bol Bol’s debut, 112-109, for back-to-back wins in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Guard Adrian Nocum stood tall and delivered 20 points, he punctuated with a high-looping bank-shot off a strong drive over 7-foot-3 Bol with nine seconds left for the final count. He added 11 rebounds with three assists for the Elasto Painters.
Johnson had 33 points and nine boards before an early exit while Felix Lemetti and Luis Villegas added 13 points each in Rain or Shine’s collective team effort.
“I guess I have really good bunch of guys who have high character, who can play with a lot of effort. We sustained our pace for 48 minutes. I think that’s the only way you can beat TNT with Bol Bol. You have to play with pace for 48 minutes. That’s what I told them,” Elasto Painters coach Yeng Guiao said.
Nocum nailed his dagger basket on an isolation play with 9.8 seconds left to keep Rain or Shine’s distance after Calvin Oftana sank a four-pointer to get TNT to within one.
Bol, who got a bloodied under his left eye by an inadvertent elbow from Villegas late in the game, missed a potential game-tying three on the other end.
Things got chippy in the last 6:20 of the game when a flurry of punches were thrown by Johnson and TNT’s Glenn Khobuntin after an overly physical jostling for position under the basket.
Both got slapped with flagrant foul Penalty 2 and were sent to the showers to cool down.
Bol had 38 points and 16 rebounds, Oftana scored 19 and Jayson Castro finished with 13 points in his return from a knee injury.
Meanwhile, San Miguel Beer opens its bid for a second straight title this season in a debut match against listless Titan Ultra today at the Ynares Center-Antipolo.
Nine-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo and import Marcus Lee banner the stacked Beermen when they try to start on a high note in the 5:15 p.m. match.
In the other match, Phoenix seeks to join Terrafirma in the top spot when it stakes its unbeaten slate against Meralco, which eyes a back-to-back win, in the 7:30 p.m. match.
The Fuel Masters beat Magnolia and Titan Ultra to get their campaign rolling while the Bolts blew out Converge, 109-88, last Wednesday for a rousing start.