The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters surges ahead with a 2-0 start to the season as they outlasted the Mahindra Enforcers 108-94 held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
The Enforcers jumped to an early 16-6 advantage against the Painters within the first five minutes of action as Mark Yee produced an efficient seven points in the opening frame. Mahindra was also crashing the boards while Rain or Shine missed six of its attempts from downtown. Fortunately for ROS, they weathered the slow start and a run late capped by a JR Quinahan triple sliced the lead down to two after the first.
Crowd went roaring with People’s champ Manny Pacquiao’s six minute stint during the first half. The playing-coach wowed everyone with his first PBA field goal from the long left corner with under ten minutes to go in the second to give Mahindra a slim lead. However, two big threes by Beau Belga and Jericho Cruz made separation and initiated the Painters’ run to seal their first double digit lead of the game at the 3:34 mark, 41-31. On the other end, Mahindra made a good run as they capitalized on nine first half turnovers by their opponents that enabled them to chop the lead down to three at the break.
The Painters slowly gained more distance against the Enforcers with a 9-2 start to the second half cemented by a triple by Gabe Norwood. Turnovers haunted Mahindra while the Painters extended their lead to its biggest on the end of the period at 79-64 with a basket by Jewel Ponferada. Bench players also contributed for both teams but Rain or Shine’s 31 point production in the third period spelled the difference entering the final chapter of play.
Instead of maintaining the lead, Rain or Shine pushed to increase their advantage courtesy of balance output from their roster. Rookie Maverick Ahanmisi took also scored nine points in the fourth quarter to help the Painters increase their lead to as high as 20. On the other hand, former NCAA player Bradwyn Guinto scored easy baskets underneath in garbage time but the small comeback came way short for the lead put up the Elasto Painters.
The undefeated Rain or Shine team shot a total of 38/66 from the field for a 57% clip compared to a 36/99(36%) mark by Mahindra. Despite being outrebounded at 56-46, the winners had more assists 26-16 and fast break points, 37-17.
Ahanmisi and Quinahan led their team with 14 points apiece. A total team effort featured three more Elasto Painters scoring in double digits while maintaining their efficient shooting from the floor. For Mahindra, it was Karl Dehesa’s 20 markers off the bench which paced the squad, followed by 14 apiece from Aldrech Ramos and LA Revilla.
RoS(2-0) will have a nine-day break as their next game day will be on the fourth of November against the San Miguel Beermen(1-0). Meanwhile, Mahindra(0-1) will have Talk ‘N Text(0-1) as its next assignment on Oct 31, 3pm at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Scores:
Rain or Shine (108) – Quiñahan 14, Ahanmisi 14, Chan 12, Cruz 12, Belga 11, Almazan 9, Tiu 8, Trollano 8, Ponferada 7, Teng 6, Ibanes 4, Norwood 3, Nimes 0, Matias 0
Mahindra (94) – Dehesa 20, Ramos 14, Revilla 14, Guinto 11, Canaleta 11, Yee 11, Jaime 6, Pacquiao 2, Pinto 2, Laure 2, Pascual 1, Bagatsing 0, Hubalde 0, Alvarez 0
Quarterscores: 23-25, 48-44, 79-64, 108-94
