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Rain or Shine's Adrian Nocum (1) drives past TNT's Poy Erram (7) and Kim Aurin (35) in their PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals Sunday evening at the Big Dome.
(PBA Images)
MANILA, Philippines -- Rain or Shine finally tallied a win in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals after surviving the TNT Tropang Giga, 103-98, in Game 3 Sunday evening at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Elasto Painters are now trailing 1-2 in the series.
Deon Thompson carried the load for the winning team with 19 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block. Caelan Tiongson chipped in 18 markers, seven boards and four dimes.
After leading by as much as 13 points in the third quarter, 69-56, after a 3-pointer by Santi Santillan, TNT stormed back and unleashed a 21-6 run capped by a Rondae Hollis-Jefferson layup to grab a 77-75 lead.
An Anton Asistio 3-pointer halted the run, which sparked a nip-and-tuck ballgame between the two teams.
A triple by Calvin Oftana pushed TNT ahead 84-83 with 7:42 remaining. But Rain or Shine uncorked a 5-0 mini-run to get an 88-84 separation, which they did not yield.
The Painters led by six, 94-88, after a pair of free throws by Adrian Nocum with 3:26 left.
After a Hollis-Jefferson jumper cut the deficit to two, 90-94, Gian Mamuyac hit a clutch layup off the steal as Rain or Shine took a 96-90 lead with 1:24 to go.
After missed shots by both teams in the succeeding possessions, Tiongson hit the dagger layup with 16.8 seconds remaining.
But Hollis-Jefferson did not give up, pulling up from 4-point area to cut the game to just four, 94-98.
Nocum was then fouled on the other end. He made the first and missed the second, but Hollis-Jefferson tipped the ball out of bounds.
Tiongson kept the Tropang Giga at bay with a pair of free throws, which was answered by a quad-shot by Hollis-Jefferson to cut the deficit to three, 98-101, with 4.3 seconds left.
A pair of freebies by Gian Mamuyac iced the game.
Nocum had another stellar game for Rain or Shine with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a steal. Asistio added 12.
Hollis-Jefferson had 34 points, 19 rebounds, two assists and a steal, while RR Pogoy backstopped with 21 markers for TNT, which will miss Jayson Castro for the season.
Game 4 of the semifinal series will be on Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., also at the Big Dome.
