PBA: Balanced Elastopainters trump Ginebra, gain 1-0 lead

(Updated 7:45pm) It didn't matter that the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters failed to beat Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in their two elimination round meetings in the PBA Philippine Cup. They managed to overcome them when the stakes were raised.

Rain or Shine blew out the Barangay 82-65, Wednesday, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, in the first game of their best-of-three quarterfinal series.

Ginebra had beaten Rain or Shine 98-94, and 97-90 in the regular season, but both times were without Paul Lee, who played in only the final elimination round game for the Elasto Painters. The sophomore guard made all the difference, leading a balanced attack with 11 points and four rebounds.

"He was excited to play against Ginebra. It took him a while to get started, pero bumalik rin yung dating laro niya," said RoS head coach Yeng Guiao, whose squad led by as much as 29 points.

"I'm just happy that our team didn't get out-rebounded tonight since that was our weakest department," Guiao added. "Our team worked really hard to offset that disadvantage." In fact, Rain or Shine held a 55-53 margin in rebounding, including a 14-9 advantage on the offensive glass.

Jervy Cruz top-scored for Rain or Shine with 14 points and eight rebounds. Beau Belga tallied 11 points and 11 boards, while Ronnie Matias added nine points. Gabe Norwood, JR Quinahan and Larry Rodriguez notched eight points apiece and combined for 13 boards and six assists.

In the first quarter, Ginebra committed to denying Rain or Shine easy looks inside. While the Elasto Painters got jumpers from Chris Tiu and Beau Belga, they were mostly cold from the field. Meanwhile, Elmer Espiritu and Mark Caguioa teamed up with penetrating moves to give Ginebra an initial 11-8 lead.

Rain or Shine persevered in getting to the shaded area. Their good ball movement was rewarded with a 10-0 run in the paint, including four by Gabe Norwood, with a minute remaining in the quarter.

Ginebra managed a late response and scored on consecutive trips, both courtesy of a Chris Ellis-Rudy Hatfield connection beneath the rim. Ginebra made only these two field goals in the last six minutes and trailed, 18-15, after the first period.

The Elasto Painters pressed on the second period, via contributions from TY Tang and Larry Rodriguez. Coach Guiao was assessed with a technical foul for complaining about a call, and Caguioa converted the bonus free throw, helping his struggling team by cutting their deficit to 26-22.

The game took an up-tempo turn midway through the period, but neither team converted well in transition. Jervy Cruz, however, managed six straight points to widen the gap to 32-26.

With two and a half minutes remaining in the half, LA Tenorio scored his first two points on a twisting lay-up to cut the lead to four, but the Elasto Painters closed the half on hustle points. Put-backs, extra passes and unselfish play led to a 10-1 run, to install a 39-29 Elasto Painters advantage after two quarters.

Ginebra was miserable from the field in the second quarter and made only 3-of-18 attempts from the field. Rain or Shine, meanwhile, made 10-of-16 attempts inside the arc, en route to a 43.5 percent field goal clip in the same period.

Paul Lee opened the third quarter by orchestrating a 20-2 avalanche for the Elasto Painters. While Ginebra was repeatedly blanked at the rim, Lee and Ronnie Matias each nailed a trey for seven points apiece to impose a threatening 55-31 lead.

With under six minutes remaining, Tenorio buried a long two to calm down his team. Ginebra harassed the Elasto Painters into difficult shots to end on a consolation 9-2 run, trailing 61-40 after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, a Gabe Norwood alley-oop punctuated a 9-5 run by Rain or Shine to reinstate a 70-46 advantage.

Keith Jensen converted from beyond the arc to cut the lead to 68-46 with eight minutes remaining, but Rain or Shine countered every succeeding basket.

Head coach Siot Tanquingcen pulled out most of his starters with five minutes remaining in the quarter. Ginebra finished the game with a 23-12 scoring margin in garbage time, punctuated by a Chris Ellis dunk, but it was clear that Tanquingcen had conceded a 1-0 disadvantage in this best-of-three series.

Game two will be played on Friday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Rain or Shine's 14-9 advantage on offensive rebounds led to a 12-0 margin in second-chance points. The Elasto Painters also led in fast break points (18-11), assists (23-17) and  had less turnovers against Ginebra (11-17).

"We were able to take LA [Tenorio] and Mark [Caguioa] out of their rhythm but I'm sure they'll be back in the second game," said Guiao, looking ahead to their next match.

Mark Caguioa led all scorers with 16 points but was held to 4-of-15 shooting from the field. Kieth Jensen tallied 13 points in 17 minutes and was the only other Ginebra player in double digits. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE 82 - Cruz 14, Lee 11, Belga 11, Matias 9, Norwood 8, Rodriguez 8, Quinahan 8, Tiu 6, Tang 6, Chan 1, Uyloan 0, Jaime 0, Arana 0

GINEBRA 65 - Caguioa 16, Jensen 13, Ellis 7, Tenorio 6, Hatfield 6, Maliksi 5, Espiritu 5, Helterbrand 3, Taha 2, Maierhofer 2, Labagala 0, Wilson 0, Mamaril 0, Wilson 0

Quarter scoring: 18-15, 39-29, 61-40, 82-65