Rain or Shine rode on the hot hands of Adrian Nocum as well as its stifling fourth quarter defense to evade the upset axe of Terrafirma, 124-112, in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Sunday, Dec. 22.

The Elasto Painters, after trailing for the most part of the contest, held the Dyip scoreless for a good five minutes in the final frame while Nocum took care of the offense to pull away and record their fourth straight win against a loss.

Nocum had 17 of his 21 points in the second half – none bigger than the booming triple that proved to be the dagger as ROS stretched its lead to 10, 120-110, with 1:22 left.

Deon Thompson had a double-double of 23 points and 17 rebounds while Andrei Caracut had 15, Leonard Santillan with 11 and Anton Asistio with 10 in yet another balanced scoring for the Elasto Painters.

Still, ROS had to survive a huge scare from Terrafirma, which fired 37 points in the first half to take a lead that went to as high as 12 points in the first half. 

The Dyip hardly slowed down early in the third frame where it unloaded a 13-0 run to regain control, 75-66. 

Nocum and the rest of ROS tightened up on their defensive screws in the final frame, during which they also unloaded a deciding 8-0 spurt to create the much-needed separation.

Louie Sangalang had one of his finest performances in the PBA with 21 points –13 of which he poured in the first half to go with his eight rebounds and three blocks. Import Brandon Edwards had a game-high 26 points but were not enough as the Dyip remained winless through seven games.