MANILA—Rain or Shine whipped up a storm of its own that even its coach never saw coming.
Like Tropical Storm “Falcon” that battered the metropolis last night, the Elasto Painters pelted Petron Blaze from the second quarter on for an easy 113-83 victory that got Rain or Shine back on track in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
“This is totally unexpected,” coach Yeng Guiao said during the customary winning coach’s interview. “We did not expect to win this way. We thought that it would be a hard battle all the way to the endgame.”
Arizona Reid scored 34 points, 21 rebounds and eight assists, with half of his total production coming in the second period where the Painters pulled away and caught the Boosters —and import Jeremy Wise—in their worst form. It was the Rain or Shine franchise’s most one-sided win.
Curtis Stinson completed his first PBA career triple double with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 16 assists later in the night as Barangay Ginebra dealt Meralco its first loss, 97-81.
The Gin Kings broke away in the second period before fending off several enemy uprisings to catch the Meralco B-Boys at 2-1 overall.
Idle Talk ‘N Text now sits alone at the top.
“They [Boosters] haven’t lost with their new import,” Guiao said. “Our import played his best game so far and we probably played our best game all-around.”
Rain or Shine rose to 3-1 and Guiao believes that his squad is now two more wins victories of snatching a place in the six-team semifinal round.
Petron saw a two-game winning streak come to a halt and dropped to 2-2.
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 113—Reid 34, Buenafe 13, Vanlandingham 12, Arana 9, Ibanes 9, Belga 7, Chan 6, Kramer 6, Cruz 5, Norwood 5, Rodriguez 4, Jazul 3, Uyloan 0, Ferriols 0.
PETRON 83—Al-Hussaini 23, Santos 19, Wise 17, Pennisi 10, Yeo 6, Tugade 3, Cabagnot 2, Salvacion 2, Hubalde 1, Baclao 0, Duncil 0.
Quarters: 23-24, 55-36, 80-62, 113-83
Second Game
GINEBRA 97—Caguioa 25, Stinson 18, Tubid 17, Menk 16, De Ocampo 6, Wilson W. 5, Miller 5, Intal 3, Wilson J. 2, Rodriguez 0, Cortez 0.
MERALCO 81—Mercado 22, Oguchi 19, Taulava 11, Espinas 9, Isip 8, Omolon 6, Hugnatan 4, Ritualo 2, Weinstein 0.
Quarters: 31-18, 53-40, 72-65, 97-81