MANILA – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters had a dominant start to their PBA Governors’ Cup campaign as they walloped Blackwater Bossing, 110-97, last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Reinforcement Aaron Fuller posted a double-double of 24 points and 19 rebounds to lead the way for the Painters, which grabbed the early lead in Group B with a dominant win.
Rookies Caelan Tiongson and Felix Lemetti also made their presence felt with 15 and 11 points, respectively, while Leonard Santillan and Gian Mamuyac had 12 and 10 points for the Painters.
The Painters gained early lead behind three-pointers from Santillan and inside hits by Fuller. The Bossing rallied back courtesy of Sedrick Barefield, but Rain or Shine maintained a 30-26 lead.
Blackwater kept the match close early in the second period but Rain or Shine got consecutive connections from Tiongson and Lemetti as they stretched the advantage to 59-50 at the half.
The Painters opened the third quarter with three straight inside baskets from Fuller followed by connections from Jhonard Clarito and Keith Datu to widen the lead to its largest at 83-62.
The Bossing went on a strong run in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 90-100, but five straight points from Anton Asistio and a triple from Luis Villegas sealed the win for the Painters.
“Our focus is just to play our game, fast-paced game, and we want our players to get the feel of the game, taking their shots when they are open, moving the ball,” said Painters head coach Joseller “Yeng” Guiao.
“Not sure how many assists we have, but I think we have 19 in the first half, I am happy the way we shared the ball, masaya rin ako sa pinakita ng mga rookies namin,” he added.
Sedrick Barefield top-scored for the Bossing with 18 points, Kwekuteye added 17 markers, while Bradwyn Guinto and import Ricky Ledo had 15 and 12 points, respectively, for the Bossing./PN
BOX SCORE:
RAIN OR SHINE 110 – Fuller 24, Tiongson 15, Santillan 12, Lemetti 11, Mamuyac 10, Asistio 9, Clarito 8, Nocum 8, Ildefonso 4, Villegas 4, Datu 3, Belga 2, Norwood 0, Caracut 0.
BLACKWATER 97 – Barefield 18, Kwekuteye 17, Guinto 15, Ledo 12, Rosario 9, David 7, Chua 6, Casio 5, Tungcab 3, Suerte 2, Jopia 2, Montalbo 0, Ponferrada 0, Hill 0, Mitchell 0.
Quarterscores: 30-26, 59-50, 83-62, 110-97.
