Rain or Shine peppered San Miguel Beer with 19 triples as it scored a gigantic 113-104 win on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City to advance in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup best-of-five semifinal series.
Andrei Caracut and Caelan Tiongson starred for the Elasto Painters after combining for 13 three-point shots to knock the Beermen cold in their quarterfinal encounter.
Caracut finished the game with 29 points while going 6-of-12 from downtown.
The former La Salle playmaker added six rebounds and five assists as Rain or Shine returned to the Final Four.
The Elasto Painters reached the semifinals for four consecutive conferences before the streak ended when the Yeng Guiao-mentored squad fell to Meralco in the quarterfinals in this season’s Philippine Cup.
Tiongson added 23 points while knocking down seven threes along with seven assists and four boards.
Import Jaylen Johnson also scored 23 points while hauling down 12 rebounds for the Elasto Painters, who last won a PBA title in the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup.
Adrian Nocum chipped in 16 for Rain or Shine, which spaced the floor well enough route to dominating the assists department, 32-19.
Bennie Boatwright led the Beermen with 24 points and seven rebounds. Gilas Pilipinas naturalized candidate, however, shot a miserable 2-of-10 from downtown and just 10-of-27 overall.
CJ Perez added 19, Don Trollano 14, while June Mar Fajardo and Jericho Cruz each scored 12 for SMB.
