RAIN OR SHINE STOPS PUREFOODS STREAK ANEW
DIPOLOG CITY. – Rain or Shine just added another interesting mark in its brewing rivalry with Purefoods Star as the Elasto Painters ended the Hotshots’ unbeaten run in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup via a 78-71 decision in a Petron Blaze-sponsored road game at the Dipolog Sports Center here Saturday night.
The Elasto Painters overcame early fouls on their key frontline players and Daniel Orton’s huge 23-point and 23-rebound performance as Rain or Shine came out to stop another Purefoods romp.
Rain or Shine improved to fifth place at 3-2 while dragging Purefoods down to second place at 4-1, behind Meralco (4-0).
For the record, the E-Painters themselves halted the Hotshots’ four-game streak during the eliminations in the last Philippine Cup, and while Yeng Guiao, then head coach of Red Bull, also stood as the stopper of Purefoods’ franchise best start of seven straight wins in the 2007-08 all-Filipino tourney.
A footnote in the match was a string of timeouts called by the two teams with the game under wraps with 12.5 seconds to go.
Leading 78-71, Rain or Shine might have been thinking about the possible quotient tiebreak.
But after Rain or Shine’s Guiao sued two successive timeouts, Purefoods Star counterpart Tim Cone also used one full timeout then a 30-second timeout, without giving any instruction to his players.
Nonetheless, the two coaches met at midcourt at the buzzer for the customary handshake.
The E-Painters pulled some measure of revenge after being beaten by the Hotshots in two title series last season — in the Philippine Cup and in the season-ending Governors Cup.
It was another physical and emotional battle between the two teams marred by one flagrant foul, one technical foul, a double-foul and the crucial sidelining by James Yap for majority of the second half.
Paul Lee celebrated his 26th irthday with an 18-point performance with Rich Jackson, Jeff Chan and Beau Belga also churning out double-digit outputs as the E-Painters beat out the Hotshots in a duel of spurts.
With Yap and PJ Simon both hapless on the bench, the Hotshots couldn’t keep step with the E-Painters in the payoff period and went down with their first loss in five games in the mid-season tourney.
The E-Painters banked on a strong start and a stronger finish as they redeemed themselves from their endgame meltdown versus the Bolts the last time out.
Rain or Shine actually blew away an early eight-point advantage, but re-established momentum in the second half and held on in the crunch.
The E-Painters raced to an 11-point spread at 75-64 entering the last three minutes on a basket underneath by Jackson off a good pass by Belga.
Purefoods threatened to within 69-75 but that proved to be the Hotshots’ last stand as Belga hit a big trey off the glass, giving RoS another commanding lead at 79-68 with 1:25 left to play. (SB)
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 78 – Lee 18, Chan 12, Jackson 12, Belga 10, Norwood 7, Tiu 6, Arana 6, Uyloan 3, Tang 2, Quinahan 2, Almazan 0, Cruz 0.
PUREFOODS 71 – Orton 23, Barroca 11, Maliksi 9, Mallari 7, Devance 6, Melton 6, Pingris 4, Pennisi 3, Yap 1, Taha 1, Reavis 0.
Quarterscores: 18-20, 38-40, 60-53, 78-71
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