Rain Or Shine Upends TnT

Norwood, Mercado key Elasto Painters’ win

By Musong R. Castillo

MANILA, Philippines—Gabe Norwood and Solomon Mercado have been playing as good as advertised—and pretty soon, maybe get even better.

After helping seal Rain or Shine’s 104-96 victory over Talk ‘N Text in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night, Norwood was made to ponder on whether he had already shown everything he had to offer to the public.

“Not yet,” Norwood answered.

And it is a scary proposition for other teams considering that he and fellow super rookie Solomon Mercado have made people wonder out loud just how far the Elasto Painters can go with the talented duo leading the way.

“If we keep playing our game, then it would be tough for them (opponents) to keep up with us,” the No. 1 overall pick told scribes after the match that boosted Rain or Shine to its finest start in franchise history.

“Basically, if we stop playing our game (we won’t make the playoffs),” Norwood added. Rain or Shine has now won four games in an all-Filipino tournament for the first time.

So far, Norwood has been content to create scoring opportunities for his teammates, much like what he did against Talk ‘N Text Friday night.

“That’s just the way I have adapted to playing,” the 6-foot-5 former George Mason star explained. “Hopefully, I can continue to excite people. I’m having fun playing with this team.”

But that doesn’t mean his presence wasn’t felt offensively.

Mercado showed the way for the Elasto Painters with 20 points—including some very big ones—while Norwood added 16 points, including a rim-rattling follow-up dunk and two free throws inside the final 60 seconds which helped the Painters rise to 4-3.

Mercado capped his night with five straight points bunched in a 17-second span which made it 94-85 heading into the final 3:07. That was a solid enough buffer that the Tropang Texters couldn’t overcome, thus falling to 3-4.

“We’re not playing the smartest basketball out there,” Norwood said with a smile. “But we’re playing hard and it keeps us in the game.”

Talk ‘N Text fell for the second straight time in upset style after absorbing a 104-102 loss to Red Bull on Wednesday. Last night, the Texters trailed by as many as 21 points late in the third period, 79-58, before waking up and making a game out of it.

Mac Cardona tried rescuing the Texters by shooting 14 of his night-high 27 points in the fourth quarter. But Mercado and Norwood took turns in hitting the shots that hurt to settle the outcome.

“It was a test of character for us,” Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia said. “We wanted to prove a point that we have good rookies in this team.”

The scores:

First Game

RAIN OR SHINE 104—Mercado 20, Norwood 16, Salangsang 14, Reyes 11, Arana 10, Isip 10, Tang 8, Laure 7, Ibanes 5, Dulay 3.

TALK ‘N TEXT 96—Cardona 27, Alapag 17, Peek 13, Castro 12, Carey 9, Ritualo 5, Allado 5, Dillinger 4, Reyes 2, Aljamal 2, Escobal 0, De Ocampo 0.

Quarters: 23-20, 59-45, 83-66, 104-96