PBA: Rain or Shine pummels Meralco for share of second place

Published November 4, 2012 7:07pm

Jireh Ibañes lit it up with 20 points to lead the Elastopainters to victory. Photo by KC Cruz

The Rain or Shine Elastopainters limited the Meralco Bolts to nine points in the second quarter while exploding for 39 in the third to come away with a 106-81 victory on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum. "Meralco is one of the hottest teams in the league right now am really surprised that we beat them in the manner that we beat them today. I was looking for a tight endgame struggle," said Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao.

Before the game, the two teams were in a three way tie with San Mig Coffee Mixers for third place with a 4-2 win-loss record. Alaska's Friday night win against the Tropang Texters earned them the second spot with 5-2, while Talk n' Text stayed on the top with 6-1.

Rain or Shine enjoyed a comfortable 41-28 lead at halftime before Ryan Araña and Jeff Chan sparked the Elastopainters' 39-point explosion that eclipsed the Bolts' 25-point third quarter production.

Ronjay Buenafe connected with two straight treys early in the third for Meralco but Araña scored eight straight points on his own to counter the run. Rain or Shine's defense caused Meralco to turn the ball over which led to easy baskets from Larry Rodriguez and Gabe Norwood to give the Elasto Painters a 58-37 lead.

"We were able to run our breaks and cause some turnovers and we were able to break away from Meralco in the third quarter," Guiao said. "We prepared for Sol, Ronjay, and Macmac and our defenders did a good job on those guys today."

Jeff Chan scored on a layup midway into the third while also getting the fifth foul of Cliff Hodge. The energetic rookie responded with a bucket at the other end to trim the Rain or Shine lead to 20, but the Elastopainters went on a 13-3 run anchored on triples from Ibañes and Beau Belga to up the lead to 30, 75-45.

Another basket by Ibañes gave the Ealstopainters their biggest lead of the game at 33 points. Hodge scored on a big one-handed jam late in the fourth quarter, but it was a meek reply to the Rain or Shine onslaught. Hodge totalled 9 points and 14 rebounds, but the fourth overall pick in the 2012 Draft struggled throughout the game due to Rain or Shine's physicality.

Jireh Ibañes led the Elastopainters with 23 points while the burly tandem of Beau Belga and JR Quiñahan added 16 and 10, respectively. Ryan Araña chipped in 10. "Jireh has improved his game. He has balanced his contributions to the team," said Guiao. "Jeff Chan was not making his usual shots so he stepped up. That's how our team was built." Meralco leaned on Mac Cardona this time around. The former King Archer tallied 20 points while Sunday Salvacion had 14. Ronjay Buenafe stepped up with 11 as rookie Cliff Hodge and Sol Mercado failed to contribute more than 18 points combined. - Carlo Pamintuan/ Renee Fopalan, GMA News

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE 106 - Ibanes 23, Belga 16, Arana 15, Quinahan 10, Tang 9, Cruz 8, Chan 7, Rodriguez 7, Norwood 6, Matias 5, Uyloan 0, Jaime 0.

MERALCO 81 - Cardona 20, Salvacion 14, Buenafe 11, Hodge 9, Mercado 9, Hugnatan 6, Bulawan 5, Borboran 4, Reyes 3, Belencion 0, Ross 0, Sharma 0, Artadi 0.

Quarters: 25-19, 41-28, 80-53, 106-81

Tags: rainorshineelastopainters, meralcobolts, pbaseason, philippinecup