Rain or Shine thrashes winless Alaska

MANILA, Philippines—Banking on consistency, Rain or Shine rose to the top of the standings after a 120-84 clobbering of a winless Alaska in the second game of the 2011 PBA Philippine Cup Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Marksman Jeff Chan got the Elastopainters in the early goings of the game when he unleashed five three pointers in the first quarter alone to wrap up with 20 points on 60 percent shooting clip from the outside.

Rain or Shine, toting a 4-1 card, pulled away for good in the second half even after mercurial head coach Yeng Guiao was sent out for two technical fouls.

Burly bigman JR Quinahan and Ronjay Buenafe contributed 19 and 17 points, respectively, which offset a lackadaisical game from top rookie Paul Lee, who didn’t show up offensively for the Elastopainters.

“The strength of our team is really in the balance that we have. Everybody made a contribution. It just proves a point—we’re not going to put the responsibilty on Paul Lee’s shoulders,” said Guiao after the game.

The Aces, meanwhile, careened to their fourth straight loss as they trailed by as many as 34 points, unable to counter Rain or Shine’s hot shooting.

Alaska, which  hasn’t gotten its act together yet since former head coach Tim Cone’s departure, drew 20 points from star guard LA Tenorio, who single-handedly tried to revive his squad in the third quarter.

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE 120—Chan 20, Quinahan 19, Buenafe 17, Rodriguez 16, Norwood 9, Arana 9, Cruz 7, Lee 5, Ibanes 5, Uyloan 4, Matias 3, Jaime 3, Belga 3.
ALASKA 84—Tenorio 20, Cablay 15, Baguio 13, Baracael 8, Dela Cruz 8, Thoss 7, Custodio 5, Reys 4, Salamat 3, Bugia 1, Mepana 0, Thiele 0, Eman 0.
Quarters: 32-18, 53-45, 81-62, 120-84