Big 3 key to Painters bid

Rain or Shine hopes to lean anew on its tall frontcourt as it takes on dangerous Hapee Toothpaste-PCU today for the solo lead in the PBL Unity Cup at the San Andres Gym.

With big men Jay-R Reyes, Marvin Ortiguerra and 6’10" sensation Samigue Eman taking charge, the Elasto Painters walloped the Toyota Otis Sparks, 73-67, Thursday to join the Montaña Jewels atop the heap with 2-0 (win-loss) slates.

Reyes topscored with 16 points and hauled down 10 rebounds, Ortiguerra had 13 points while Eman added eight, including four in the fourth quarter while coming up with several defensive stops in the clutch to seal the win for the Elasto Painters.

"Our big men will again be the key," said Rain or Shine coach Leo Austria. "The team is also inspired and motivated with the arrival of Sam (Eman)."

It was Eman’s first game since breaking into the league for John O three years ago.

The three will be up against a smaller but quicker, younger bunch that includes Gabby Espinas, Beau Belga, Joel Solis and ex-pro Eric Canlas.

Interestingly, Austria will be pitted against coach Junel Baculi of Hapee in their 2 p.m. duel.

"We’ll be playing each other again and I’m looking forward to that," said Baculi, who split the six titles he and Austria fought among themselves.

Baculi, the winningest coach among the current batch of bench tacticians with seven titles, said defense will play a crucial role in their game.

"They’re obviously bigger than us so we have to toughen up our defense inside," said Baculi. "We’ll try to offset our height disadvantage with our quickness."

Meanwhile, Toyota Otis takes on Harbour Centre in their 4 p.m. encounter.

The Sparks are bunched at No. 3 with the Spinners, the Teeth Sparklers and the Snack Masters on 1-1 cards while the Port Masters are in the cellar along with the Teletech Titans with two losses.