Belga stars in OT while Rain or Shine continue their good career inside the bubble

Beau Belga last laughed at a heartwarming performance Tuesday night as Rain or Shine clinched an 85-82 overtime victory over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the PBA Philippine Cup at the La Centro Cultural y Deportivo. University Foundation of Angeles.

Belgian scored five of his 20 points in the five-minute extension, a follow-up after missing a layup and a triple that gave the Elasto Painters an 83-78 lead, and added 10 rebounds and four assists when the Elasto Painters served. . he scored a win and gave the Kings a second straight loss after a 4-0 start.

But Rain or Shine needed a stroke of luck to secure their fourth win in five games inside the bubble known as Smart Clark Giga City after Geneva cut the deficit to 83-80.

Jewel Ponferada recovered the ball after Rey Nambatac slipped before landing a one-handed shot for his only points with five seconds left to put up an 85-80 lead for the Elasto Painters.

Rain or Shine bounced back after falling short against Alaska, 89-88, last week as they needed an extra day of rest when Sunday’s game with Blackwater was canceled due to one of the Elite players initially testing positive for COVID- 19.

No one was more motivated to get into the game than Belga, who wanted to prove something after seeing a comment on social media earlier that day.

“There was a hater who criticized me on social media saying that I was just hurting the PBA and that he just wanted to prove him wrong,” Belga said during a post-game interview on One Sports.

Coach Caloy García was also pleased that Belga was not the only player to step into the Elasto Painters.

Mark Borboran scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds, while James Yap earned a starting role and produced 13 points, the season-high.

Nambatac had just eight points, but produced one of the game’s biggest shots with a tie-breaking 3-pointer at 76, all with 2.1 seconds left in regulation time.

Kris Rosales also scored all of his eight points in the first quarter which saw Rain or Shine take a 24-15 lead and forced Geneva to catch up at all times.

Geneva had to slowly retreat from being down 39-24 in the second behind Stanley Pringle and Scottie Thompson.

Pringle’s jump shot put the Kings ahead, 74-73, with more than two minutes remaining in the quarter before Borboran missed two free throws and Gabe Norwood cushioned a shot from mid-range.

LA Tenorio was fouled and made a pair of charities for a three-point lead in Geneva before Nambatac continued his ability to clutch the ball with the game-tying triple on the next play.

Thompson finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks and Pringle had 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists, but Geneva couldn’t bounce back from Sunday’s loss to his brother Magnolia.

Scores:

RAIN OR BRIGHTNESS 85 – Belga 20, Borboran 13, Yap 12, Nambatac 8, Rosales 8, Onwubere 3, Norwood 3, Ponferada 2, Wong 0, Torres 0.

GENEVA 82 – Thompson 21, Pringle 20, Aguilar J. 13, Tenorio 10, Devance 6, Caperal 5, Mariano 3, Chan 2, Dillinger 2, Tolentino 0.

Quarters: 24-15, 45-36, 61-57, 76-76 (Reg), 85-82 (OT).