Elasto Painters oust Express

ARIZONA Reid, Rain or Shine’s energetic import, gets whistled for a charge after barreling through the defense of Air21 forward Sean Anthony. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

MANILA, Philippines — With a dominating effort on both ends, Rain or Shine made sure last night that Air21 won’t be pulling off any more surprises this PBA season.

Arizona Reid nearly came up with a triple double in just 33 minutes and three locals tossed in twin digits for the Elasto Painters, who overwhelmed the Express, 111-90, to clinch the third Final Four seat in the Governors’ Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Reid finished with 30 points on top of 11 rebounds and six assists and Paul Lee hit nine fourth quarter points that helped seal the win of the Painters, who reached the semifinals for the fourth straight conference.

“We were ready for a hard endgame,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said, surprised at how easy the Painters won a sixth straight game against a side that had pulled off a lot of surprises in the last two conferences.

“We were surprised that we were able to break away. Our defense has been consistent and that is what has been carrying us through,” Guiao added. “We’re getting opportunities in transition plays because of our defense, it gets us into our rhythm.”

The second-ranked Painters will take on No.3 Alaska in the semifinals. The Aces booted out Barangay Ginebra, 92-81, in the second game.

Alaska needs to win just once to seal a clash with the Painters. Talk ‘N Text, the No. 1 seed, and No. 4 defending champion San Mig Coffee are in the other Final Four match-up after dusting off separate foes on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a high-ranking personality in the league yesterday told the Inquirer that should the Air21 sale to NLEX push through, it is most likely that the Express may never be readmitted to the league again.

NLEX is reportedly buying the Air21 franchise for a sum that is a lot bigger than the P100 million expansion fee, and an Air21 official had said that selling to NLEX is an option as they will just re-apply for a new franchise the following season.

“That will not happen in all likelihood,” said the source, who said that he had talked to several Air21 officials about this scenario. “Should they sell and then re-apply, it will only mean that they made money out of their franchise, and the board doesn’t like that.”

Rain or Shine opened up leads of as large as 23 points in the third quarter and was mildly threatened with just over five minutes left when Aldrech Ramos made it a 96-83 game with a triple from deep left corner.

But Lee hit a free throw off a foul by Sean Anthony, and after Asi Taulava knocked down a short stab to usher the Express closer, 97-85, with 5:01 left, Lee drained two treys that knocked the wind out of Air21’s sails.

Dominique Sutton capped his impressive first outing as an import here with a 35-point, 18-rebound and six-assist effort.

The scores:

First Game

RAIN OR SHINE 111—Reid 30, Lee 14, Rodriguez 12, Arana 11, Norwood 9, Nuyles 7, Tiu 6, Chan 6, Belga 5, Teng 5, Ibanes 4, Uyloan 2, Cruz 0, Almazan 0.

AIR21 90—Sutton 35, Poligrates 18, Ramos 16, Taulava 11, Anthony 5, Yeo 3, Cardona 2, Borboran 0, Villanueva J. 0, Burtscher 0, Menor 0, Camson 0, Atkins 0.

Quarters: 30-21, 55-45, 83-64, 111-90