Air21 Express vs Rain or Shine Elasto Painters

MANILA, Philippines – Jamelle Cornley and his teammates continued to play well together, enabling Rain or Shine to match its best start in a tourney following a 106-92 win over Air21 in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.

Cornley and the RoS locals played a well-balanced game, negating Zach Graham’s highly productive performance as the Elasto Painters got past the Express and stayed unscathed after three games in the season-ending tourney.

Rain or Shine has a chance to post a first-ever 4-0 start in a tourney when it tangles with Barangay Ginebra Wednesday also at the Big Dome.

The Elasto Painters had their first 3-0 conference start in the 2011 Commissioner’s Cup – their first tournament under coach Yeng Guiao.

“This is exactly what we prepared for. So far, everything is falling into place,” said Guiao.

“We’re playing the kind of game that we want – balanced scoring, good ball movement and switching on defense,” Guiao added.

The Elasto Painters did those things as they dominated the Express and put to naught Graham’s huge numbers of 37 points and 20.

“Air21 is a deceivingly tough team. You think it’s easy to play them but it’s not. One thing in our mind was not to relax. We achieved what we set out to do,” said Guiao.

The Elasto Painters played tough on both ends, leading by as many as 20 points at 84-64 on Jeff Chan’s fifth triple in the game with a little over a minute left in the third period.

His confidence boosted by his inclusion in the national training pool, Chan went 5-of-9 from the three-point land and finished with a total of 16 points plus two rebounds, two assists and one steal in 27 minutes of action.

Cornley shared the ball with his teammates, choosing his shots as he made 21 points and hauled down 14 rebounds.