GAME 1 TO RAIN OR SHINE

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RAIN or Shine’s teammanship came to the fore Monday to the chagrin of Petron Blaze.

The Elasto Painters drew a collective balanced effort up and down their roster to stymie the Boosters, 103-95, at the start of their PLDT myDSL PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Pushing the ball whenever it could, Rain or Shine seized control from early in the first quarter on to post as much as a 65-48 lead before cruising to the headstart in the best-of-series.

It was his team’s overall defensive effort that pleased coach Yeng Guiao more, however.

“We did a good job defensively,” said Guiao after his charges forced Petron into committing 25 turnovers from which they drew 24 points.

“This (Petron) is a powerhouse team and it’s just the desire and effort of the boys that got us through this first game,” added Guiao.

The fact the series still has a long way to go was also not lost on Guiao, whose team got swept by Talk N Text in the same tournament’s finals last season. “This is just the first game, we need three more (wins),” he stated.

One thing for sure, the E-Painters would be employing the same up-tempo kind of game that netted them 35 fastbreak points to the 29 of the Boosters.

“We want it fast, we want it in the open court,” said Guiao. “We’re ready to play a long series. We’re ready to play at a fast, furious pace.”

June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos each wound up with a double-double, but Petron’s turnovers and the veritable no-show of Alex Cabagnot and Chris Lutz did the Boosters in.

Lutz and Cabagnot were held down to only four points each, more than 20 points below their combined averages for the tourney, and they also shot a total 2-for-15 from the field with Lutz committing five turnovers.

Fajardo finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds and Santos 20 and 17 before fouling out with only 23.7 seconds left.

A late explosion by Marcio Lassiter gave him 20 points and brought Petron within 95-100, but charities by Beau Belga and Raymond Almazan and misses by Lassiter and Cabagnot sealed the outcome.

JR Quinahan did not see action due to a slight swelling on his right knee, but that hardly mattered for Rain or Shine, which drew 18 points from Paul Lee and 15 from Belga, who anchored the defense on Fajardo, forcing the latter to commit eight turnovers.

“Beau did an excellent job on June Mar, but we can’t do that without JR in six or seven games if that’s necessary,” said Guiao.

At least for Monday, Quinahan’s services were hardly needed as Almazan, Jervy Cruz and Larry Rodriguez did their part in clogging the middle while the likes of Ryan Arana, Alex Nuyles, Gabe Norwood and Jeff Chan also shone in transition.

As a result, Rain or Shine took a 28-20 lead after the opening period, extended a 49-40 halftime lead to 76-63 after three quarters and easily dispelled any semblance of an uprising Petron was able to muster.(NC)

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