Elasto Painters subdue slumping Kings

Wednesday, 18 March 2009

Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia believes Jai Lewis is a prized catch who could be their catalyst for a possible major breakthrough in the pro league.

Lewis just bolstered Garcia's belief with another mammoth performance leading Rain or Shine to a 107-93 rout of Barangay Ginebra that gave the Elasto Painters a share of second place with the idle Sta. Lucia Realtors Wednesday night in the Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.

"We've found the missing link in our game in Jai. He's really a big factor. He plays well and gets to involve everybody. He makes his teammates confident. And for as long as the players enjoy playing with one another, we'll be there fighting," said Garcia as they notched a third win against one loss.

The Elasto Painters have gone 2-of-2 since Lewis took over from Charles Clark as the team's reinforcement.

"He's as it again tonight. He imposed his post presence, opening up the Ginebra defense for our other players to shoot from the outside," said Garcia.

Rain or Shine did hit heavily from afar as it clobbered Barangay Ginebra, dealing the Kings a third straight defeat.

The Kings terribly missed the services of Sunday Salvacion who's out with a strained left calf muscle sustained in practice Monday. Before Wednesday's games, Salvacion led all locals in scoring with an average 19.3 points per outing.

The Elasto Painters converted nine three-pointers as they built a 57-37 cushion at halftime and knocked in three consecutive treys as they fended off a Ginebra rally down entering the homestretch.

Donald Dulay rifled in five triples with Rob Wainwright and Ryan Arana adding three apiece, Allan Salangsang two and Sol Mercado, Gabe Norwood, Jireh Ibanes and Lewis one each.

The Kings, on the other hand, struggled with a 37.4 percent shooting as they remained on a slump after a triumphant debut versus the Coca-Cola Tigers.

The Elasto Painters shot 45 percent from the three-point zone and 59.1 percent from the two-point area as they established control early and enjoyed the 20-point lead at halftime.

Rain or Shine hit at 52.4 percent field-goal clip overall as against Ginebra's atrocious 28.3 percent shooting.

But the Kings get into the groove of things upon their return from the halftime huddle, coming to within four points once in the third quarter.

The Kings kept on coming back from there until their bid was eventually scuttled by the Elasto Painters on three successive treys by Wainwright and Mercado.

Lewis came through with a double-double of 16 points and 17 rebounds with Mercado, Wainwright, Arana and Dulay each adding at least 15 points.

Rod Nealy led all scorers with 32 but was held down to 11 rebounds -- eight below his average. (NC)

The scores:

Rain or Shine 107 - Mercado 18, Lewis 16, Wainwright 16, Arana 15, Dulay 15, Norwood 9, Reyes 7, Salangsang 6, Ibanes 3, Isip 2, Tang 0, Andaya 0.

Ginebra 93 - Nealy 32, Helterbrand 16, Mamaril 13, Tubid 11, Lanete 10, Cabatu 3, Artadi 3, Intal 2, Wilson 2, Reavis 1, Pacana 0.

Quarterscores: 27-18, 57-37, 78-68, 107-93


Source: http://www.pba.ph/content/view/2541/1/