MANILA: It seems now that everyone is trying to make a pitch to join the National Team, with even the coaches joining the fray.
Jay-R Reyes scored 24 points on 5-of-5 shooting from beyond three-point range last night to lead Rain or Shine to a 92-88 decision of Alaska in the Philippine Cup eliminations, which prompted coach Caloy Garcia to issue his endorsement.
“I hope the RP Team (coaching staff) sees that (Reyes performance),” Garcia told scribes at the Araneta Coliseum press room moments after his Elasto Painters defeated the Aces for the first time in their PBA existence.
“He is a big guy that can shoot from the outside,” Garcia said. It was an unlikely shooting clip from the outside for the 6-foot-5 Reyes, the former cornerstone of this team until Gabe Norwood and Solomon Mercado arrived during the last Rookie Draft.
Reyes scored all of his 11 third quarter points in succession to restore a 10-point Rain or Shine lead, 56-46, before nailing his final three points in a 28-second span at the most crucial stages of the fourth period to keep the Aces at bay.
With the win, the Painters rose to 6-5 and moved within another victory of matching their best performance in a season. Then known as Welcoat, this team has won just a total of seven games in each of the last two years.
Those five triples by Reyes were already one better than the total he had in his first two seasons in the pros, when he hit just 4-of-26 attempts. Before last night’s game, the former UP ace made just 2-of-11 tries from there this conference.
Interestingly, Reyes’ career-best of 26 points and 18 rebounds also came against the Aces, when the then-Dragons took a 90-96 loss on Dec. 20, 2006. Reyes also had 11 rebounds last night.
Alaska lost for just the third time in 11 games, but the Aces kept the solo lead later on after powerhouse San Miguel fell prey to a resurgent Sta. Lucia side, 100-95.
Joseph Yeo scored a career-high 38 points, a lot of them in showtime manner, and Norman Gonzales added 25 for the Realtors, who won for the third straight night even with prized sophomore Ryan Reyes still in sick bay. The Realtors climbed to 6-4 with the win, while the loss was the fourth in 11 games and second straight for the Beermen counting the debacle they suffered against the Aces last Saturday.
Rookie Bon-bon Custodio led the Beermen with 19 markers.
“Technically, it was all defense today,” Garcia added after posting the franchise’s first win over the Aces in close to three years and 10 games overall. Mercado and Norwood proved to be match-up headaches of Alaska , with starting Aces point guard LA Tenorio the hardest hit.
The 5-foot-9 former Ateneo stalwart was used for just 29 minutes by coach Tim Cone after failing to contain the stocky Mercado. He wound up scoreless with Mercado hitting the bulk of his 20 points against him.
Rain or Shine started out with all guns firing, opening up a 12-point lead right in the first five minutes before Alaska made a game out of it.
Behind Willie Miller, the Aces even enjoyed small leads in the second half and had a 75-74 lead with 6:30 left to play after Sonny Thoss scored on a slam dunk off a Miller feed.
