Santillan, Clarito deliver when Painters needed them most

MANILA, Philippines — With their backs against the wall, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters found valuable production from Santi Santillan and Jhonard Clarito.

Rain or Shine was already trailing their best-of-seven PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals series against the TNT Tropang Giga, 0-2. 

It was a must-win Game 3 for the Elasto Painters, who are already playing without designated import stopper Caelan Tiongson. 

Aside from import Aaron Fuller, who had another massive double-double for Rain or Shine with 26 points and 16 rebounds, including pulling off the game-winning and-one play, Santillan and Clarito provided the needed spark both on offense and defense. 

Santillan scored 20 points and six rebounds in their 110-109 squeaker win on Sunday, October 13. Clarito, for his part, finished with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists as the primary defender of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. 

After the game, Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao lauded Santillan for playing his best game thus far in the series. 

“This is his best game. I was really hard on Santi the last two games. I was expecting a lot more from him. It’s a good thing he responded,” he told reporters. 

“Maraming narinig sa akin si Santi, so makikita mo yung karakter ng tao kung bibigay siya sa ganun o magre-respond siya sa ganun. So nag-respond siya. That’s a good sign of his character, his personality and his grit, just to prove himself,” he added.

“Siguro asar na asar na siya sa akin na panay sigaw at mura siya sa akin kaya ayan, pinakitaan ako.”

In the first two games of the series, Santillan was only able to score a total of nine points as he struggled with his shot.

Guiao also gave “mad dog” Clarito his flowers, who was able to limit Hollis-Jefferson despite the latter finishing with a triple-double. 

Hollis-Jefferson finished with 23 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, but he shot just 9-of-23 from the field.

Guiao praised Clarito, saying he “has been stepping up ever since.” 

“Not just on defense but we can also rely on him for offense. He's a dog. He's a mad dog out there,” he said. 

“You give him an assignment and he's just gonna put his heart and soul into it. With the injury to Caelan, he is our import stopper or defender. Him and Gabe had to take care of our defensive assignments on the import,” he added. 

“So it's a big deal. It's a big deal for Michael Jhonard. His energy is contagious. When you see him play that hard, it rubs off on his teammates.” 

Game 4 of the series will be on Wednesday at 5 p.m.