Elasto Painters dump giants in Victorias, firm grip on 2nd

VICTORIAS, Negros Occidental -- Rain or Shine just didn’t give Jahmar Thorpe the opportunity to get into the groove in his initial game with Purefoods.

The Elasto Painters ran and gunned at every opportunity and scored a vengeful 110-90 win over the Giants in their Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference road showdown at the Victorias City Sports and Recreational Arena here Saturday night.

The Painters continued to dish out an inspired game with import Jai Lewis, avenging a 94-102 defeat to the Giants in their first meeting in the tourney last March 7.


Rain or Shine had Charles Clark as import and Purefoods had Brian Hamilton as reinforcement then.

With Lewis and Thorpe in tow this time, the Elasto Painters got the Giants’ number, nailing a third straight win and fourth in five games overall.

Lewis, Gabe Norwood’s former teammate at George Mason U, had another solid double-double game with 26 points and 20 rebounds as the Elasto Painters kept their unbeaten run with him.

Purefoods, meanwhile, suffered a third straight defeat with the Giants just unable to keep pace with the Elasto Painters in their rematch serving as a leg of the PBA Phoenix Fuel on Tour.

The Elasto Painters buckled down to work early and sustained a highly-charge effort in the game 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.

Norwood, Rob Wainwright, Sol Mercado, Ryan Arana and JayR Reyes put in solid support as Rain or Shine utterly 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. (NC)

The scores:

Rain or Shine 110 – Lewis 26, Norwood 16, Wainwright 13, Mercado 12, Arana 11, Reyes 10, Dulay 6, Laure 5, Salangsang 5, Isip 4, Andaya 2, Ibanes 0.

Purefoods 90 – Simon 23, Thorpe 21, Raymundo 11, Yap J. 9, Allado 9, Canaleta 8, Villanueva 8, Yap R. 1, Alvarez 0, Vergara 0, Robinson 0.

Quarterscores: 31-22, 59-43, 81-72, 110-90.


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