Rain or Shine holds off Kia, locks top spot

PJ Ramos of KIA (light) vs Paul Lee and JR Quinahan of Rain or Shine (dark). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines – Rain or Shine survived Kia, 119-99, to clinch the top spot in the 2015 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Import Wayne Chism had it going from the outside going 6-of-12 from long range to finish with 28 points that went with 12 rebounds to lead the Elasto Painters, whose 27-point lead was cut to eight before regrouping.

“We had problems all night long with the size and the strength and the power of PJ Ramos,” said ROS head coach Yeng Guiao. “But I guess we were able to limit the contributions of their locals that’s why we were able to put up a good lead and protect that lead.”

“The objective really is if he (Ramos) is going to make the points, let’s control the output of their locals and we were able to do that,” added Guiao.

PJ Ramos nearly scored half of the Carnival’s output with 45 points while shooting 59% from the field on top of 21 rebounds in another dominating performance but his teammates combined to shoot for only 23-of-59.

Raymond Almazan came up big for the Painters with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and nine rebounds in less than 20 minutes of action. Paul Lee added 14 points, five rebounds and six assists.

The last time Rain or Shine, which locked up the No.1 spot at 8-3 due to superior quotient, finished atop the standings at the end of the elimination round it won the 2012 Governors’ Cup.

“If it’s a good sign for us, we’ll take motivation from that and treat it exactly what it is – a positive sign. That’s also going to give us encouragement going into our preparations,” Guiao said.

Kia came to within eight, 96-88, on a tough turn around by Reil Cervantes with still 8:33 left after trailing by 27, 71-44, late in the second quarter.

But Ryan Araña hit a corner three and after a jumper by Ramos, Almazan scored eight straight points in one minute to restore order, 104-90, with 6:16 remaining.