Rain or Shine hands Phoenix first Philippine Cup loss in overtime game

“Final (OT) : 98 – 94 in favor of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters!
Best Player: Beau Belga with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists #PBALabanKungLaban” (Photo: PBA/Facebook)

Overall, Beau Belga was the player of the game at 16 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, but teammate Kris Rosales had his best game as a RoS player as well contributing the same amount of points as Belga. For the Fuel Masters, Jason Perkins received his career-high of 27 points, while Calvin Abueva chipped a double-double at 16 points and 12 rebounds, but it was not enough to prevent their team from experiencing their first loss.

RoS head coach Caloy Garcia believes that this is “another good win for [his team],” but commended their opponents, stating, “Phoenix came back and we had a good lead but they didn’t stop. That’s probably why they are on top. They never gave up and they fought their hearts out.” He added, “We just hit the big shots in the end. The nice thing about our win today is that just the way we want it. When we win, we want different players stepping up.” Garcia concluded, “We just can’t be complacent,” saying in Filipino, “I told the players, we want to stay on top. We just have to stick together, and stick with the system.”

When talking about his performance, on the other hand, Player of the Game Belga shared, “I don’t hesitate when it comes to passing the ball. Even if it’s a risky pass, I gamble,” referring to his assists, “If my teammate gets it, good. If I turn the ball over, I’ll just work hard to get the possession back.”

Phoenix will try to pick themselves up from this loss as they face Northport Batang Pier on Wednesday, February 27 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, while Rain or Shine will attempt to continue their winning streak against the Magnolia Hotshots on Wednesday, February 13 at the Mall of Asia Arena.