ROS brushes off TNT

Rain or Shine kicked up a storm in the second half to steal a 91-89 victory over TNT and wrest pole position in the PBA Philippine Cup last night in Cagayan de Oro City.

After a horror 6-24 start, the no-quit Elasto Painters patiently worked their way back in and completely turned the road game around with a 49-35 salvo in the final 24 minutes.

Coach Yeng Guiao’s charges hiked their record to 6-2, dislodging the Calvin Oftana-less Tropang 5G (5-2) from the summit.

ROS capped its furious fightback with a killer 17-8 bomb in the fourth ignited by the combined 10 points of Gian Mamuyac and Andrei Caracut. The E-Painters kicked this off with nine unanswered points that put them ahead at 83-81.

TNT managed to regain control at 89-86 but Jhonard Clarito made a pivotal putback then Caracut hit a tough-angle, shot clock-beating baseline shot to get ROS back on top, 90-89.

The E-Painters then survived a wild finish at the Aquilino Pimentel Jr. International Convention Center to regain their winning ways off their 91-105 loss to NLEX.

Meanwhile, four teams press their bids for better positioning in the playoffs race and seek some momentum before the tournament goes on a three-week break.

NLEX (5-2) and Titan (2-5) clash while Barangay Ginebra (2-4) and Phoenix (2-5) collide today in a crucial double-header highlighting the league’s first gig at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.

For the Road Warriors, the 5:15 p.m. game offers an opportunity to break out of a five-way logjam for No. 2 and bolster their drive for the advantageous Top 4 seeding.

Notes: Converge coach Delta Pineda justified his decision to give the go-signal for Juan Gomez de Liaño’s garbage-time layup in the FiberXers’ 106-96 win that infuriated Ginebra mentor Tim Cone. He cited the rules on tiebreakers via quotient. “Hindi ba quotient tayo? And baka may chance na mag-meet kami (Ginebra) sa huli. That’s why I gave a go-signal kay Juan to score. Hindi malayong mangyari, tama po di ba?” he said. Pineda added he apologized to Ginebra governor Al Chua and explained the rationale. “Even kay Gov Al nag-sorry din ako, and I explained to Gov Al ‘yung ruling natin ngayon. Quotient tayo, no knockout, so every point is important.”