MANILA – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters battled back from 21 points down to beat Japan University Basketball Federation’s select team, 116-91, in the 2023 William Jones Cup on Saturday night at the Taipei Heping Gymnasium in Taiwan.
Leonard Santillan had a perfect outing. He finished with 20 points on 8-of-8 shooting. Angelo Kouame and Gian Mamuyac added 18 markers apiece as the Painters improved to 2-5.
Reinforcement Nick Evans contributed 17 markers, Andrei Caracut flirted with double-double as he tallied 12 points and nine rebounds, Anton Asistio ended with 11 markers, for Rain or Shine.
The Painters struggled offensively anew in the opening quarter as they fell behind 21-42 before slowly clawing its way back in the second quarter to cut the deficit to six points at the half.
Rain or Shine continued its uprising in the third quarter as he tightened their defense of the Japanese crew while unloading a 9-0 scoring blast behind Kouame and Santillan for an 83-76 edge.
With the momentum on their side, the Painters dropped a backbreaking 16-2 scoring barrage in the final quarter behind Mamuyac, Evans and Caracut for its biggest lead of 99-78.
Anthony Sukegawa top-scored for Japan University Basketball Federation selection with 23 points, but was held to just five in the second half, while Hiyuu Ozawa added 19 markers.
The Japan-based squad was the same team that the reigning UAAP men’s basketball champions Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles beat in a friendly game in Japan last week.
This was the second victory of the Painters in the week-long competition after scoring a 98-90 double-overtime victory against Iran National Basketball Team-B last Wednesday afternoon.
The Joseller “Yeng” Guiao-mentored Painters hope to close their campaign on a positive note as they battle league-leader and undefeated University of Irvine for their final assignment./PN
