Rain or Shine storms Purefoods in Negros

MANILA, Philippines - Rain or Shine simply pounced on the opportunity as Jahmar Thorpe struggled in his debut with Purefoods, carving out a lopsided 110-90 win in their Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference out-of-town showdown at the Victorias City Sports and Recreational Arena in Negros Occidental last night.

The Elasto Painters played an up-tempo game which the Giants just couldn’t keep pace with as Rain or Shine got back at Purefoods and jacked up its win-loss record to 4-1.

Jai Lewis had another solid double-double game with 26 points and 20 rebounds as the Elasto Painters stretched their streak to three games with him in tow.

The Elasto Painters bowed to the Giants, 94-102, in their previous tiff while still awaiting Lewis. Rain or Shine had Charles Clark as import while Purefoods had Brian Hamilton as reinforcement then.

In the rematch serving as a leg of the PBA Phoenix Fuel on Tour, the Elasto Painters buckled down to work early and sustained a highly charged effort as they dealt the Giants a third loss against two wins.

They took the opening quarter at 31-22, the half at 59-43 and kept commanding spreads up to the finish in a splendid showing witnessed by a crowd of almost 8,000 in the newly built Victorias playing venue – the largest crowd attracted so far in a road game this tourney.

Gabe Norwood, Rob Wainwright, Sol Mercado, Ryan Arana and JayR Reyes put in solid support as Rain or Shine completely dominated Purefoods, leading from start to finish.

It took personal binges by Kerby Raymundo and Peter June Simon for the Giants to put up some semblance of a fight towards the end of the third period.

Through Raymundo’s and Simon’s efforts, Purefoods came to within nine, 72-81, after three quarters.

The Elasto Painters, however, stopped the Purefoods charge right at the start of the final period, working on a 11-2 run to again rip the game apart at 92-74.

Norwood and Mercado ran the breaks and scored on acrobatic lay-ups in that stretch, highlighting the Rain or Shine blitz.

The Painters dominated the first 24 minutes of play while beating the Giants practically on all fronts of the game.

Performing better in shooting, rebounding and passing, Rain or Shine led by 16 points twice in the second quarter with the first at 51-35 on a triple by Wainwright.

The Painters converted 58 percent of their shots while the Giants hit at a 41-percent clip in the first half.