RAIN OR SHINE BEATS AIR21 TO GET BACK IN THE GROOVE
Paul Lee came back from a one-game absence due to a right ankle sprain to masterfully lead defending champion Rain or Shine’s return from a two-game slide via an easy 109-95 of Air21 Saturday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Last year’s Rookie of the Year finished with 19 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals as the Elasto Painters notched their third win in five games while handing the Express their third straight defeat for a 1-4 slate.
“Pursigido talaga kami manalo ngayon tapos talagang pinahirapan namin yung import ng kabila. Yun tingin ko mga key kaya kami nanalo ngayon,” said Lee, who stepped on Beau Belga’s foot in a previous practice and twisted it, causing him to miss their previous game, a 94-79 loss to Alaska last Wednesday.
Rain or Shine import Arizona Reid came up with his best game in the conference to the tune of 39 points, 19 rebounds and four assists to help his team but Air21 counterpart Zach Graham was held to a PBA career low for the second straight game, finishing with only 18 points on a 5-for-16 shooting from the floor.
Ryan Arana was the only other player in double figures for Rain or Shine which was coming off back-to-back losses to Petron Blaze (99-84 last Aug. 23) and that one over the Aces.
“This is a big game for us, coming back from two bad losses. We stopped the bleeding. This was important because losing would have meant trying to survive this conference. Winning means getting back into contention. Malaking bagay itong panalo sa amin especially in trying to arrest our two-game skid,” said Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao of the win which pulled them half a game behind co-leaders Petron Blaze and Barako Bull, both with 3-1 slates.
Arana had nine of his points in an 11-2 run which enabled Rain or Shine to take control of the game, turning a slim 63-60 lead into a 74-62 bulge in the third quarter.
The Elasto Painters, who shot 50.6% from the field and had a 28-15 edge in assists, went on to lead by as much as 107-91 near the end of the game on a Gabe Norwood basket.
“We’ve been on a shooting slump in our last two games. The only advice I gave the guys was to keep working hard, shoot our way out of our shooting slump and just fire away and not think of our misses in our previous games. I guess it worked because we played well overall on offense. We scored more than 100 points and made a good percentage of our shots,” added Guiao.
Nino Canaleta paced Air21 with his 25 points while Mike Cortez added 21 built around a 5-for-5 shooting from the beyond the three-point arc. Both players recorded personal conference highs in scoring. (FM)
The scores:
Rain or Shine 109 – Reid 39, Lee 19, Arana 14, Belga 9, Norwood 7,Chan 7, Cruz 4, Quinahan 4, Matias 2, Tang 2, Ibanes 2, Tiu 0, Rodriguez 0.
Air 21 95 – Canaleta 25, Cortez 21, Graham 18, Manuel 13, Isip 10, Sharma 5, Sena 2, Custodio 1, Omolon 0, Arboleda 0.
Quarterscores: 26-21, 52-47, 80-72, 109-95
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