MANILA, Philippines—Rain or Shine showered Meralco with a hail of three-pointers and set four franchise records in the process Sunday night in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Ronjay Buenafe fired 24 points, including 15 from three-pointers, and Jeffrei Chan added 20 on four-of-five shooting from downtown as the Elasto Painters produced 22 triples in a ruthless 139-95 demolition of the Bolts at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Aside from erasing their previous best in total output and three-pointers made, the Elasto Painters also registered their biggest winning margin, plus an amazing field-goal percentage of 66.3 on 53 of 80 shooting.
“I haven’t seen a game like this in a long time,” said Rain Or Shine coach Yeng Guiao after his E-Painters wrested the solo lead with their third consecutive victory—their fifth in six games overall.
Though Rain Or Shine’s excellent three-point turnout ranked only third behind a pair 23 three-pointers recorded by Talk ‘N Text in the 2008 Fiesta Conference and 2009 Philippine Cup, the feat was accomplished at the PBA standard distance of 22 feet.
TNT’s exceptional twin achievements beyond the arc was achieved using the Fiba length of 20.5 feet.
“I don’t know what my players ate but the whole team was in a zone,” said Guiao. “Our shooting was just fantastic. But what carried us through our five wins was our defense.”
Ironically, Rain Or Shine’s three-point masterpiece was better than its two-point shooting of 64.6 percent (31 of 48) and free-throw percentage of 59 (11 of 19).
Paul Lee added 19 points, burly Beau Belga incredibly buried all of his four three-pointers for 14 points, and Jervy Cruz, Ronnie Matias and JR Quiñahan produced 10 points each.
Except for Cruz, Larry Rodriguez, Ryan Araña and Chito Jaime, all E-Painters had their share of the limelight from three-point range.
In the nightcap, Gary David energized Powerade with a career-high 42 points as the Tigers turned back the Petron Blaze Boosters, 108-94, to end a two-game slide.
David unloaded seven straight points in one decisive stretch, including a deadlock-shattering three and a drive through heavy traffic for an 88-83 Powerade lead after trailing by 11.
Mac Cardona led the Bolts with 25 points with Nelbert Omolon, Solomon Mercado and Gabby Espinas (12 points, 12 rebounds) also turning in double figures. Meralco dropped to 4-3.
Hitting five of their six three-pointers in the first period, the E-Painters zoomed ahead, 33-20, and padded the advantage to 27 points at the end of the half.
By that time, the E-Painters were already 13 of 17 from the three-point area with Buenafe nailing four and Matias, Gabe Norwood and Belga knocking in a pair each.
Rain Or Shine’s 13 threes at halftime is an all-time league high.
The scores:
First Game
RAIN OR SHINE 139—Buenafe 24, Chan 20, Lee 19, Belga 14, Cruz 10, Matias 10, Quinahan 10, Norwood 7, Rodriguez 7, Arana 6, Ibanes 5, Jaime 4, Uyloan 3.
MERALCO 95—Cardona 25, Omolon 13, Mercado 12, Espinas 12, Isip 9, Hugnatan 9, Laete 4, Faundo 3, Yee 3, Macapagal 3, Ballesteros 2, Taulava 0, Borboran 0.
Quarters: 33-20, 68-41, 106-64, 139-95
Second Game
POWERADE 108—David 42, Kramer 18, Lingganay 11, Lassiter 11, Calimag 9, Casio 6, Antonio 4, Anthony 3, Vanlandingham 2, Crisano 2, Adducul 0.
PETRON 94—Santos 23, Cabagnot 22, Lutz 15, Ildefonso 9, Agustin 6, Sharma 6, Yeo 5, Miranda 4, Guevarra 2, Reyes 2, Doruelo 0, Baclao 0.
Quarters: 20-30, 48-47, 74-77, 108-94