Small ball Rain or Shine adds to Meralco woes; Converge keeps Grand Slam-seeking TNT winless

MANILA, Philippines – Leonard Santillan got it going early and the rest followed suit as the undersized Rain or Shine Elasto Painters dealt the defending champion Meralco Bolts their third straight loss in the PBA Philippine Cup with a 128-116 blowout at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Sunday, April 27. 

Santillan put together 19 points in just the first half alone en route to a game-high 27-point explosion as the Elasto Painters notched their second win in a row for a 2-1 record despite missing the services of their key big men Beau Belga, Caelan Tiongson, and Keith Datu.

Spitfire guards Gian Mamuyac and Adrian Nocum also exploded for 24 points each in the high-scoring affair that saw Rain or Shine capitalize on its small ball and run-and-gun system. 

“We just tried to play to our strong suit, which is playing with a lot of pace. We wanted to get out and just keep attacking the defense of Meralco,” said Rain or Shine mentor Yeng Guiao.

“We knew we were small, so our advantage was really our quickness.” 

“We had practically zero bigs. The only way we can win the game is really to just keep playing fast, which is what we always do anyway,” added Guiao.  

Using their quickness and aggressiveness on offense to their advantage, the Elasto Painters forced Meralco to commit 35 fouls, leading to their very-high 39-of-47 clip from the free throw line — a stark contrast to the Bolts’ 18-of-23 mark from the same distance. 

Rain or Shine also put premium on its defense, locking down Meralco star Chris Newsome and holding him to only 3 points on 1-of-6 shooting. 

With Newsome struggling, it was Bong Quinto who paced the Bolts (2-3) with 23 points, while CJ Cansino and Raymar Jose had 21 markers apiece in the losing cause.

Meanwhile, the Converge FiberXers kept the Grand Slam-seeking TNT Tropang Giga winless in two games in the Philippine Cup after pulling off a 100-94 upset in the second contest. 

Converge leaned on its twin towers Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar as the duo took advantage of TNT’s thin frontline composed of only Poy Erram and Kelly Williams. 

Arana led the FiberXers with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists, while Baltazar dropped 21 markers on an efficient 7-of-9 shooting, to go with his 12 boards.

Aside from Arana and Baltazar, Converge — which improved its record to 3-2 — drew solid performances from its feisty backcourt pair of Schonny Winston and Alec Stockton as they delivered 19 points each. 

Converge overcame a huge 33-point performance by Calvin Oftana, who unloaded 20 points in the second half to help TNT cut the FiberXers’ biggest lead of 22 points in the second frame, 45-23, to only 4 late in the third period, 69-65. 

Luckily for the FiberXers, that 4-point gap was the closest the Tropang Giga could get as they ran out of steam in the endgame. 

Roger Pogoy and Rey Nambatac backstopped Oftana in the loss with 15 and 12 points, respectively.  

The Scores 

First game

Rain or Shine 128 – Santillan 27, Mamuyac 24, Nocum 24, Lemetti 13, Norwood 12, Clarito 10, Malonzo 9, Caracut 7, Borboran 2, Asistio 0.

Meralco 116 – Quinto 23, Jose 21, Cansino 21, Banchero 14, Hodge 8, Caram 7, Bates 6, Black 5, Rios 4, Newsome 3, Reyson 2, Almaazan 2, Pascual 0. 

Quarters: 29-28, 66-59, 102-82, 128-116.

Second game

Converge 100 – Arana 22, Baltazar 21, Winston 19, Stockton 19, Garcia 6, Racal 5, Suerte 4, Nermal 2, Santos 2, Delos Santos 0, Santos 0, Ambohot 0, Corpuz 0.

TNT 94 – Oftana 33, Pogoy 15, Nambatac 12, Erram 9, Enciso 9, Williams 8, Khobuntin 5, Aurin 3, Varilla 0, Razon 0.

Quarters: 28-16, 53-35, 71-65, 100-94.

– Rappler.com