E-Painters beat Dyip in OT grind

MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine avoided another overtime heartbreaker, leaning on Denzel Bowles’ triple-double effort to scrape past Columbian Dyip, 88-86, in an extended out-of-town PBA Commissioner’s Cup matchup last night at the Batangas City Coliseum.

Despite feeling drained from stomach virus, Bowles fought through and collected 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists as the E-Painters escaped the blushes this time and redeemed themselves from a numbing 105-107 OT setback to an eight-man NorthPort side last week.

“We’re very upset about last game. It’s almost deja vu but we fought through and pulled off this team win,” said Bowles, who was too fatigued that he missed 14 of his 21 tries from the free throw line.

The E-Painters trailed by two going to the last 2:32 of extension, and inched their way back courtesy of splits by Bowles and Beau Belga.  

After forcing Dyip rookie CJ Perez to miss a makeable layup and getting possession, the squad of coach Caloy Garcia took care of business on the offensive end with Rey Nambatac drilling in the go-ahead bucket off an inbound pass from Gabe Norwood, 2.6 seconds left.

A steal on Columbian’s offensive by Norwood sealed the E-Painters’ third victory in six starts while ending a four-game losing streak to the Dyip dating back to last year.

Nambatac and Jewel Ponferada backstopped Bowles with 10 apiece while Norwood shot eight to go with three steals.

In the second game, Barangay Ginebra gave new acquisition Stanley Pringle a winning debut as it nipped NLEX, 100-85, for back-to-back wins and a 4-3 card overall. NLEX fell to 1-7.

The Gin Kings closed out the first with a 18-8 tear to reverse the tide after falling behind early, 2-9, and kept their foot on the pedal the rest of the way to score a followup to their 110-107 overtime edging of San Miguel a week ago.

Justine Brownlee led the way with 37 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals as Pringle, acquired in a blockbuster trade with NorthPort last week, made a quick impact with 16 markers and eight boards.

The scores: 

First Game

Rain or Shine 88 – Bowles 29, Ponferada 10, Nambatac 10, Daquioag 9, Mocon 8, Norwood 8, Belga 5, Rosales 4, Yap 3, Torres 2, Borboran 0.

Columbian 86 – Prosper 26, McCarthy 15, Perez 12, Corpuz 11, Khobuntin 8, Camson 5, King 4, Cahilig 2, Calvo 2, Celda 1, Agovida 0, Reyes 0, Escoto 0, Faundo 0.

Quarterscores: 22-27, 44-39, 62-62, 81-81, 88-86

Second Game

Ginebra 100 – Brownlee 37, Pringle 16, Tenorio 11, Slaughter 10, Aguilar 8, Caguioa 4, Caperal 4, Mariano 4, Thompson 3, Devance 3, R. Aguilar 0, Sargent 0, Teodoro 0.

NLEX 85 – Erram 20, Mitchell 17, Ighalo 13, Cruz 12, Quiñahan 6, Galanza 6, Taulava 3, Soyud 3, Baguio 2, Tiongson 2, Lao 1, Rios 0, Paniamogan 0, Varilla 0.

Quarterscores: 27-17, 50-42, 80-63, 100-85