Painters halt skid, bring down Energy

PAUL Lee of Rain or Shine (No. 3) tries to reach for the rebound against Barako Bull import Evan Brock. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

RAIN OR SHINE turned to its old run-and-gun game to down Barako Bull, 103-93, last night and snap a two-game PBA Commissioner’s Cup slide at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.

Bruno Sundov scattered 27 points and plucked down 11 rebounds and Paul Lee led two other locals in twin digits with 20 as the Elasto Painters seized command at the start of the second period and eventually improved to 6-3 overall.

“We shot the ball a lot better today,” coach Yeng Guiao, who turned 54 on Tuesday, told reporters. “We were really looking to get (some of the team’s outside shooters) their usual percentages from the perimeter to make things easier for Bruno inside.

“[If] we’re shooting the ball pretty well, the inside gets pretty comfortable for Bruno to operate on,” he continued. “We were able to make it a high-scoring, up-tempo ball game. It worked for us. That’s the way we like it.”

Barako Bull lost for the fifth straight game in a 3-6 card after giving the Painters that many points. In the last two games that it lost, Rain or Shine averaged just 77.5 points against Petron Blaze and Talk ‘N Text.

Lee, last season’s top rookie, scored all  his points in the final three quarters. He and Jeff Chan warmed up the potent outside guns for the Elasto Painters by shooting two triples each in the second period.

Chan, the southpaw who is still recuperating from a broken thumb in his shooting hand, finished with 10 points in his second game back to active duty, while Gabe Norwood contributed 11.

Lee also dished out six assists that went with four rebounds and two steals to win Player of the Game honors. No guard from the Barako Bull rotation was able to match up with him all night.

Meanwhile, Globalport import Walter Sharpe was fined P40,000 by the Office of the Commissioner for sleeping in the parking lot of a driving range in Ortigas in the wee hours of Monday. Batang Pier management also let go of the Chinese league veteran and has signed up Sylvester Morgan.

The scores:

First Game

RAIN OR SHINE 103—Sundov 27, Lee 20, Quinahan 11, Chan 10, Norwood 8, Rodriguez 6, Tiu 5, Belga 5, Cruz 4, Ibanes 4, Matias 2, Tang 1, Arana 0.

BARAKO BULL 93—Brock 23, Seigle 20, Intal 17, Maliksi 12, Pennisi 10, Urbiztondo 3, Macapagal 3, Kramer 2, Allado 2, Villanueva 1, Anthony 0, Cruz 0.

Quarters: 19-18, 46-39, 70-66, 103-93