Norwood saves Rain or Shine, Painters edge Bolts

Rain or Shine lost grip of a huge 25-point lead, but hang tough in the end for an 89-84 win over Meralco Wednesday night and got back on track in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. Jeff Chan and Gabe Norwood led the Elasto Painters with 14 each, with the latter scoring the insurance basket inside the final two minutes to give his team a 10-point spread. The Bolts had cut what was once a 78-53 lead to 82-74 when Norwood made the crucial two-point. "It's a good win. It got us back on the winning track," said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, unmindful of his team losing that 25-point lead." "It kind of scary, but those are the risks you want to take if you want to teach the team something in the endgame," he added. With Talk 'N Text finally absorbing its first loss of the season, a 100-86 upset at the hands of Barako Bull, Rain or Shine found itself back in solo second with a 3-1 record, just half-a-game behind idle Petron (3-0). Rookie sensation Paul Lee was held to his lowest output this conference with 12 points, but his basket with 9:03 to go in the fourth period gave the Elasto Painters that 25-point lead. Meralco—still without the services of injured players Mark Cardona, Sol Mercado, Reynel Hugnatan and Chris Ross—fell to an even 2-2 card. Mark Macapagal paced the Bolts with 20 points, including 14 in the first half when he almost single-handedly rallied the team back from a 39-28 deficit. The Bolts trailed 41-40 at the turn. Gabby Espinas added 19 and Asi Taulava 16 also for Meralco. The two ironically, also got involved in a separate altercation in the opening half, with Espinas going against Ronnie Matias, and Taulava exchanging some unpleasant words with Jervy Cruz shortly after the halftime buzzer. — JVP, GMA News