Sitting in an unfamiliar territory in the standings prior to this game, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters finally notch a breakout win, 123-85, dismantling over the skidding Blackwater Elites, at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.
Five minutes into the match, all Rain or Shine starters already entered the scoring column with at least a point in their 15-8 early advantage. Futhermore, Paul Lee was active early for his squad not just in scoring, but also rebounding as well. However, he also committed turnovers that favored the Elites to salvage up some points tie the game at 15, capped by a triple by Val Acuña.
After seeing their lead evaporate, the Elasto Painters used a 15-5 scoring blitz to end the first period. Paul Lee caught fire during the stretch scoring eight points, including two bombs from downtown, while TY Tang also added with his own. The tail-end of the first quarter also featured good solid defense by Rain or Shine that led to their early lead not just in points, but also in the rebounding department.
It was all Rain or Shine in the second quarter as they forced the Elites to take tough shots. Blackwater was limited to six quiet points in the quarter’s first 6 ½ minutes of action, while the Painters were cruising on the offensive end. Good ball movement was also key for the run of Rain or Shine, while Jeff Chan nailed a trey to give them a 46-28 separation. Moreover, turnovers were also committed by Blackwater that further halted their chances of clawing back in the ball game.
In the last four minutes of the quarter, Wendell McKines started to bully his way in the paint, despite drawing up multiple defenders. Rain or Shine even led by as many as 24 , 59-35 at one point, cemented by back to back triples by Gabe Norwood. Meanwhile, Blackwater not only kept on rimming out their shots, even the wide open ones, but they also kept on committing costly turnovers. At the half, ROS had a 26 point cushion, and was still shooting a close to 57% clip after 24 minutes.
The second half was simply an extension of the game-long brilliance put up the Elasto Painters, as they pounced on the cellar-dealing Blackwater team. Despite Sunday Salvacion and Marcus Douthit making jumpers from the perimeter, the Elites struggled in making stops on the other end. While the shooting from three-point territory slightly cooled down for Elasto Painters, they used transition plays to add on their scoring output. A transition trey by TY Tang gave his squad a 78-48 lead as the winners of the game were seemingly decided at this point.
The fourth period was 12 minutes of garbage time, but Rain or Shine continued on piling up the assists. With the final score just waiting to be settled, even the bench players contributed for the Painters, while the lead was maintained on a comfortable distance.
Rain or Shine improves to a 2-4 record, increasing their chances of avoiding the bottom four places in the standings. On the other hand, Blackwater is now the loser of three straight matches with their 1-6 slate.
The Painters doubled the three-point shots put up by Blackwater with 14 triples made on 42.4% shooting. They also had more rebounds, 52-42 and dished more dimes, 28-19. In only 21 minutes of playing action, Lee ended up scoring 13 points, grabbed nine boards and four assists.
Rain or Shine will troop to Bacolod to meet Talk ‘N Text in their next game in a rematch of last conference’s finals at 5pm, while Blackwater will also face the Texters as their next assignment on June 12, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine(123) – McKines 15, Cruz 15, Lee 13, Chan 12, Tang 11, Belga 10, Cruz 9, Teng 8, Almazan 8, Norwood 7, Ibañes 5, Quiñahan 5, Tiu 3, Araña 2, Uyloan 0
Blackwater(85) – Douthit 14, Reyes 13, Faundo 10, Celiz 10, Cervantes 8, Acuña 7, Heruela 6, Laure 6, Ballesteros 4, Salvacion 3, Golla 2, Timberlake 2, Erram 0, Bulawan 0
Quarters: 30-22, 61-35, 87-56, 123-85
