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Rain or Shine hit its stride in the second half to steamroll also-ran GlobalPort, 116-94, and assure itself of a quarterfinals slot in the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Tuesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Mo Charlo and Jeff Chan led a balanced attack with 18 points apiece for the Elasto Painters, who rose to 6-4.
“We finally got an offensive rhythm in the second half. Our offense was bad in the first half. We just tried to keep the game close in the first half,” said ROS head coach Yeng Guiao. “We knew there was no pressure on GlobalPort, pressure was really on us so it took us two quarters before we can get some rhythm.”
“I’m also happy that Mo Charlo got his game going in the third quarter. He skipped practice yesterday he wasn’t feeling too good he got some food poisoning. He was kind of weak even before this game,” said Guiao. “But it really did not show during the game.”
Charlo and Chan combined for 19 points in the third quarter, where Rain or Shine started to pull away after outscoring GlobalPort, 35-21.
Paul Lee, who is only in his third game back from injury, played significant minutes and contributed 12 points. His 3-pointer stretched the Painters’ lead to 17 and his two free throws extended it to 21, 106-85, with only 3:39 remaining.
“It’s also a good time to get Paul Lee some minutes and try to get him back into his game shape,” said Guiao.
Shawn Taggart posted game-highs 32 points and 15 rebounds while Terrence Romeo added 19 points for the Batang Pier (2-8), losers of seven straight games. Starting point guard Stanley Pringle missed the game for GlobalPort.