Rain or Shine cools off Air21

MANILA, Philippines -  Rain or Shine glowed at the start then checked a fading stand in the second quarter before surging home to its second straight victory with a 116-94 victory over Air21 in the PBA Governors Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Elasto Painters had looked on their way to an early breakaway win when they suddenly lost their shooting touch, blowing a 34-20 lead and falling behind by seven at 34-41.

They trailed by three, 46-49, at the half but came through with a second-half resurgence leading to a follow up to their 95-82 victory over the B-Meg Llamados in the conference’s inaugurals in Tacloban, Leyte last Saturday.

“I was a little worried when it (the slump) was happening but I knew the team has the ability to regroup. I was confident we can come back, regroup and win the game,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.

Arizona Reid and his teammates did re-group, bringing the team back on the run since its 3-0 start in the Commissioner’s Cup.

Guiao considered it “confidence-builder” which he hoped could key a better showing than their sixth-place finish in the last conference.

“We also started strong the last time but couldn’t make it past the quarters. But my confidence is higher this time. I think we have the right import to compliment our game,” said Guiao.

Beau Belga and Ronjay Buenafe helped RoS back with 13 and eight points, respectively, in the third quarter then the team poured on the heat in the final period.

Talk n Text started with a league-record 17-0 opening salvo then refused to relax as the Texters began their grand slam chase with a 101-75 rout of the Alaska Milk Aces in the nightcap.

The Aces scored their first basket, through import Jason Forte, only after the Texters had gone on that fiery opening run, improving the previous league best mark of 16 shared by San Miguel Beer, Alaska Milk, Barangay Ginebra and Red Bull.

A downside was a sprained ankle suffered by Jimmy Alapag at the start of the second half.

Alapag, Talk n Text’s premier playmaker set to reinforce Smart Gilas Pilipinas in the Fiba-Asia championship in Wuhan, China in September, grimaced in pain as he twisted his right ankle after landing it on a teammate’s foot.

He was carried to their bench and never returned.

Reid finished with another double-double game with 24 points and 11 rebounds while Belga added 18 points and nine rebounds in a sterling game spiked by 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc.

“He really has a three-point shot. Actually, I encourage him to take it. He fakes a lot. I think he just needs a little more confidence,” said Guiao.

The Elasto Painters went scoreless for five minutes in a second-quarter stupor, which the Express took advantage of, unleashing a franchise record-tying 21-0 run that shoved them to 41-34 with 6:07 left in the first half.  

Alpha Bangura, Leo Avenido, Niño Canaleta, Danny Seigle, Josh Urbiztondo and Dondon Hontiveros contributed to their spirited second-quarter run, capped by a two-handed double-pump slam by the Air21 import.

Reid made two free throws to break their silence then made back-to-back baskets later in an eight-to-nothing binge putting RoS back in the lead at 42-41.

The first half was marked by more momentum shifts ending with Air21 on top at 49-46.

The Elasto Painters jumped the gun on the Express early, taking the opening quarter at 30-20, with Jeff Chan firing 10 points and Reid adding six.