PBA: Rain or Shine fends off Meralco

Rain or Shine’s Jeff Chan nabs the ball from Meralco’s Rey Guevarra.

MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine got the stops down the stretch to fend off Meralco, 96-79, Wednesday night in the 2014 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Up by just six, 85-79, with under four minutes to play, the Elastopainters got the chance to build a safe cushion after getting the breaks as Cliff Hodge and Gary David misfired on consecutive attempts.

Jeff Chan, Ryan Araña and import Alex Mclean conspired in a 11-0 run to close out the Bolts, who played sans import Brian Butch in the latter part of the match, for their third win.

“The days we play defense, we win games. This is one of rare days,” said head coach Yeng Guiao, who also said that their key was limiting their turnovers to just 11.

“We had problem in turnovers in the past few games but we’ve managed to bring our TOs down. We’re just really starting to get the rhythm going. I hope it’s not too late,” Guiao added.

After the 29-all deadlock, the Elastopainters seized control for the bulk of the game and led by 14 points twice, 61-74, and 50-76, in the third quarter.

But Meralco slowly chipped away at their lead and trimmed it down to four points with half a quarter left to play, until Rain or Shine found a way to peel away.

“Our import played good today,” said Guiao of McLean, who finished with 23 points, nine in the fourth, and 16 boards.

The gunner Chan had 21 points on a perfect stint from the stripe, while Paul Lee and Gabe Norwood added 16 and 13, respectively, for Rain or Shine.

Gary David, meanwhile, led the Bolts by scattering 20 points while Jared Dillinger and Cliff Hodge chipped in 14 and 12 for naught as they absorbed their fourth loss. Butch had 11 points and 13 boards.