(Update) Rain or Shine finishes off Barako Bull in PBA Fiesta Cup

MANILA, Philippines – Rain or Shine finished off any upset bid by Barako Bull as it coasted to a 96-88 win Wednesday night and march into the quarterfinals of the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. Rookie Sol Mercado matched his career-high with 29 points, 27 of them coming in the first half alone, when the Elasto Painters were already in command 57-45 at halftime. But he fell short in setting a new personal best after suffering a right hamstring pull with 5:35 left to play in the fourth period. Everything, however, was under control by the time he went to the bench, with the Elasto Painters now playing the waiting game on which team between Purefoods and Talk ‘N Text will move on to face them in the quarterfinals. The Giants and the Tropang Texters, the Philippine Cup champions, square off Friday in a knockout contest. “We need to show our heart in this game," said Mercado, who shot 9-for-16 from the field, pulled down six rebounds and also had two assists and a steal. It was, indeed, a great performance for Mercado, who only had two points when Rain or Shine missed making the semi-finals outright last Sunday in a 114-71 blowout loss to defending champion Ginebra. “I think the character of the team showed today after that embarrassing loss to Ginebra," said RoS coach Caloy Garcia. “We just have to take it the hard way." Rob Wainwright added 16 points, Gabe Norwood had three dunks to finish with 13 while Tyrone Tang contributed 10 for Rain or Shine, which will be appearing in its second straight quarterfinals after four straight last-place finishes in its first two seasons. Jai Lewis again failed to score in double digits, but grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. He also had four blocks. Barako Bull came into the game trying to surprise Rain or Shine with a new import in Jamaal Lewis, the come-backing import who played for Sta. Lucia Realty before in the 2006-07 Fiesta Conference. Williams’ mission was to create an intimidating presence inside. He, however, couldn’t dominate the shaded lane, only ending up with a PBA career-low 15 points and six rebounds. Williams saw action for 9 games with the Realtors. Larry Rodriquez was the one who led the Energy Boosters in scoring, putting together a career-high 21 points. Rodriguez also had six rebounds. – GMANews.TV