MANILA – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters recovered from another flat start to defeat the import-less Phoenix Fuel Masters, 116-99, in the PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
Adrian Nocum finished with a conference-high of 21 points to go with three blocks and two rebounds as the Painters stretched their unbeaten run to four games.
After being down by as much as 12 points in the opening quarter, the Painters slowly carved their way back in the second period to force a 55-all count at the half.
The Painters rode on the momentum in the third quarter behind Nocum, Aaron Fuller and Jhonard Clarito to build an 84-76 lead, which later grew to as high as 20 points at 106-86 in the fourth quarter.
“Siguro nag-e-enjoy din ‘yung mga nanonood,” said Painters head coach Joseller “Yeng” Guiao regarding their unbeaten start. “Parang nasa ibang mundo kami, parang hindi kami sanay ng ganito.”
“Pero nakikita mo gumaganda laro ng mga bata. Natutuwa ako. Nag-e-enjoy akong panoorin sarili naming laro, nag-e-enjoy akong makita kong naglalaro sila,” he added.
The Fuel Masters, which dropped to 0-3 record, were forced to play all-Filipino after their replacement import Le’ Bryan Nash exceeded the conference’s height limit of 6-foot-6.
On Thursday evening, defending champions TNT Tropang Giga (3-1) leaned on a late 10-0 scoring run to score a come-from-behind 88-82 win over Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots (1-2).
Down 78-80 after a basket by Hotshots’ Ian Sangalang, the Tropang Giga went on a 10-0 run — a triple by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, a layup by Jayson Castro, a triple by John Paul Erram, and a dunk by Hollis-Jefferson — for an 88-80 lead.
Hollis-Jefferson finished with 32 points, 19 rebounds, and seven assists to lead the Tropang Giga, which bounced back from a 96-95 loss to the Converge FiberXers last Tuesday.
Rey Nambatac added 15 markers, Roger Pogoy made his return for the Tropang Giga active lineup and contributed 12 points and Quinton “Brian” Heruela ended with 10 points./PN
