Rain or Shine pummels Powerade with second-half scoring blitz

And so prolific rookie Paul Lee made his presence felt, coming alive in the second half along with Jeff Chan as the Elasto Painters turned things around en route to a 114-97 win Wednesday night in the opener of their best-of-seven series against the Tigers at the Astrodome. Lee, held to just three points in the first two quarters, exploded for 22 points in the second half and anchored a huge offensive run that allowed the Elasto Painters to overhaul an 11-point halftime deficit. Rain or Shine, behind Lee and Chan's hot shooting hands, outscored Powerade in the third quarter (35-22) that ended with the Elasto Painters finally on top at 78-76. The Painters, overall, flattened the Tigers in the second half, 71-43. Chan came a point shy of matching his career-high with 27 points in leading the Elasto Painters, while Lee had a season-best 25 markers. Rain or Shine's guard combo combined for 39 points in the final two quarters. Lee, the second overall draft pick this season, hit 4-of-5 from three-point range (6-of-10 from the field) in the second half and went 9-of-11 from the free throw line. "We just kept our composure after a bad first half. The boys played more committed to the game plan in the second half," said coach Yeng Guiao. Gary 'El Granada' David, Powerade's high-scoring wingman, dropped 30 points against the Elasto Painters, 17 of which came in the firs half. But he failed to get the needed offense from his support crew, specifically rookie Marcio Lassiter, who was held to just two points on 1-of-7 shooting. "We just wanted to break the flow of the Powerade offense. We wanted them to go one-on-one on us. So, that's basically what happened," said Guiao. A Chan three-pointer trimmed Powerade's 14-point lead to 54-43 at the turn. Before Chan hit the shot at the closing seconds of the opening half, the Tigers had their biggest lead of the game at 54-40 on a Doug Kramer basket. But it was Rudy Linganay was responsible for Powerade's first-half breakaway.  

The wingman out of University of the East scored six straight points—on two completed three-point plays—that stretched a shaky six-point spread to 52-40. — JVP, GMA News Scores: