Sluggish start dooms Rain or Shine anew vs Chinese Taipei B in Jones Cup

MANILA, Philippines – A fourth-quarter rally came a little too late to rescue Rain or Shine from falling to its second-straight Jones Cup defeat, bowing to Chinese Taipei B, 89-79, at the Taipei Heping Gymnasium on Sunday, August 13.

The Elasto Painters came within striking distance in the final frame after falling behind by as many as 21 points but were not enough to prevent them from being swept by the hosts after also losing to Chinese Taipei A on Saturday.

A lackluster opening quarter was once again the biggest problem for the Filipinos, allowing the hosts to get their confidence going and build a 30-14 lead over Rain or Shine.

Unlike in the opener though, the Filipinos fought back, threatening the young Taiwanese crew throughout the contest — the last of which came after a 14-3 spurt to open the payoff period to come within nine, 69-78.

Chinese Taipei, however, delivered timely hits and took advantage of the Rain or Shine’s foul situation, scoring from the foul line to keep Rain or Shine at bay.

"It’s actually a big improvement from yesterday but the same pattern, yung bad first quarter, bad start. Hindi natin makuha yung good start na hinahanap natin," said head coach Yeng Guiao.

"'Yung pinakita namin sa second half yun yung gusto namin na fight back actually nanalo kami sa second half, kinapos lang," he added.

Taiwanese-American Adam Hinton led the way for the hosts with 17 points built on three triples while Ting Jhao Jian fired 15 points.

The scores:

Chinese Taipei B (89) – Hinton A. 17, Jian 15, Lin 13, Ma 13, Hinton R. 9, Ahmadou 8, Chen 3, Chiang 1, Sun 0, Lan 0, Chen 0, Wang 0.

Rain or Shine (79) – Kouame 15, Mamuyac 11, Evans 11, Demusis 10, Belo 9, Santillan 9, Nambatac 8, Caracut 4, Clarito 2, Norwood 0, Belga 0, Ponferrada 0.