Rain or Shine went on a huge second quarter flurry and never looked back to give Ginebra a rude 93-71 welcome in the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday, Sept. 28.
Everything just went to the Elasto Painters’ favor in that deciding second quarter breakaway as they clicked from all cylinders to score 30 points in that canto alone while limiting the Gin Kings, who, ironically, added more firepower with the acquisitions of Jamie Malonzo and Von Pessumal, to a measly five points.
Ginebra’s never-say-die spirit just abandoned the talented crew as it was all Rain or Shine from that point, easily cruising to its first win under the head coach Yeng Guiao this conference.
At the forefront of the onslaught was Rain or Shine import Steve Taylor Jr. who posted 21 points – 16 of which came in the first 12 minutes of the contest – along with 10 rebounds and five assists while Santi Santillan added 15 points.
It was actually a total team effort as three other players scored with at least eight points. Norbert Torres scored all of his eight points to spearhead that second quarter assault, joining hands with Anton Asistio and Andrei Caracut who finished with nine points apiece while Rey Nambatac orchestrated the attack with nine assists.
While Rain or Shine caught a big fish in Ginebra, Guiao felt they were just lucky to play the star-studded team in one of its “rare” bad nights
“It feels good actually. Magandang bawi namin from talo namin sa NLEX. Malaking isda itong nahuli namin pero mahirap mahuli yung Ginebra sa ganitong situation. One of their rare bad nights. We played well but maybe because they also played bad,” said Guiao.
“Ginebra is an all-star team especially with the addition of Jamie Malonzo and he played well tonight. They’re gonna be scary in the future,” he added.
Brownlee paced the Kings with 20 points but had to take 25 shots to reach his output including a 1-of-11 clip in the first half which epitomized Ginebra’s offensive struggles with a conference-low first half points at only 28.
The blazing first half from the Elasto Painters obviously caught the Kings shellshocked as the lead ballooned to as many as 32 points early in the final frame.
Malonzo had a decent debut in his Ginebra uniform with 14 points but still wasn’t enough as the Kings absorbed its worst loss since the Governor’s Cup of the last season and tied for the least points the team scored in the nine conferences with Brownlee on board.
The Scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 93 – Taylor Jr. 21, Santillan 15, Nieto 10, Asistio 9, Caracut 9, Torres 8, Belga 5, Nambatac 5, Ponferrada 4, Ildefonso 3, Norwood 2, Borboran 2, Ponferrada 1, Guinto 0, Clarito 0.
GINEBRA - Brownlee 20, Malonzo 14, Pinto 9, Standhardinger 9, J.Aguilar 8, Pringle 8, Tenorio 2, Thompson 1, Dillinger 0, Pessumal 0, Mariano 0.
QUARTERS: 25-23, 55-28, 72-49, 93-71