Rain or Shine routs Ginebra to take game 1

JR Quinahan grabs the nose of Chris Ellis while passing the ball to Rudy Hatfieldd. PBA/Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines—Rain or Shine came out firing in the second half to hammer out an 82-65 drubbing of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Wednesday to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three quarterfinals series in the 38th PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Elasto Painters banked on a 20-2 blast to start the third quarter and put the Kings away early, 59-31, with 6:06 remaining.

“We did not expect it to be this easy but it’s just the first game,” said ROS head coach Yeng Guiao. “We played our defense tonight the way we wanted to, everybody was active.”

“Sabi ni coach no letup, last time tinambakan namin sila pero nakahabol, sinigurado talaga namin ngayon,” said Paul Lee, who kickstarted his team’s run.

Lee knocked in a three before sinking a tough shot that made it, 48-31.

Ronnie Matias joined the scoring fray, scoring seven of his nine points in the crucial stretch, including a fastbreak layup to stretch ROS’ lead to its biggest at 28.

“It’s good we we’re able to take LA and Mark out of their rhythm but sure they will be back in the second game,” added Guiao.

Jervy Cruz led the E-Painters with 14 points while Lee finished with 11 points and four rebounds.

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE 82 – Cruz 14, Lee 11, Belga 11, Matias 9, Norwood 8, Rodriguez 8, Quinahan 8, Tiu 6, Tang 6, Chan 1, Uyloan 0, Jaime 0, Arana 0.

GINEBRA 65 – Caguioa 16, Jensen 13, Ellis 7, Tenorio 6, Hatfield 6, Maliksi 5, Espiritu 5, Helterbrand 3, Taha 2, Maierhofer 2, Labagala 0, Wilson 0, Mamaril 0, Wilson 0.
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