Painters scrape past Bolts to win fourth straight

Rain or Shine import Aaron Fuller tries to get the ball during a game against Meralco in the PBA Governors’ Cup.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

A pesky feline—depending on how one sees it, of course—gave Rain or Shine some luck after disrupting action for a few seconds on Sunday night.

The Elasto Painters welcomed the short break caused by the stray cat’s presence on the floor, forcing a big defensive play that led to Aaron Fuller hitting the marginal basket with 39 seconds left as Rain or Shine won for the fourth straight time in the PBA Governors’ Cup, an 85-83 nipping of Meralco at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Cats are said to have nine lives, and Rain or Shine seems to have the same good omen despite a sluggish start and trailing, 81-76, with six minutes to go as the Painters pulled out the win and sustained a hot streak that has all but made them forget a pathetic 0-2 start to the conference.

“Anything is lucky as long as you win,” Yeng Guiao said while the cat was also inside the media room where the Rain or Shine coach and Fuller did their customary postgame press conference. Turns out, before finding its way to the floor, the feline spent most of the game bugging some reporters, even terrifying one member of the press corps.

Rain or Shine took whatever advantage it could get, and the win had the Painters climbing to second in Group B to start off the second round while avenging its 122-114 loss to Meralco during their first meeting.

Fuller finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds, while Adrian Nocum, who rifled the pass to Fuller that led to the game-winner, had eight assists despite being held to six points and getting hurt in the knee during a collision with Meralco’s Cliff Hodge in the fourth quarter.

Nocum came into the game fresh off a career-high 31-point night that led the Painters to a similar high-wire victory last week, a 98-97 nipping of Magnolia on Friday.

That incident that hurt Nocum didn’t sit well with Guiao, who later called Hodge “the dirtiest player in the league,” opening old wounds between the two.

It wasn’t just the Hidge-Nocum incident that marred the contest as Rain or Shine captain Caelan Tiongson and Meralco’s Diego Lozano, who acts as a strength and conditioning coach, had to be separated after the two got into an exchange of words.

Tiongson later described the trash talk as a “friendly banter.”

The stinging loss extended the woes of Meralco, which fell to 2-4 after a third straight defeat.

Meralco played minus CJ Cansino due to an injured hip flexor, while Bong Quinto, back from a case of vertigo, missed two free throws late that prevented the Bolts from sending the game to overtime. INQ