RAIN or Shine was finally able to solve the Star puzzle and got some very welcome boosts in the process.
J’Nathan Bullock had 18 points and 11 rebounds while the likes of Jericho Cruz and returning Gilas Pilipinas players Gabe Norwood and Raymond Almazan played equally crucial roles in the Elasto Painters’ 92-88 victory Sunday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It marked the first time Rain or Shine won in five meetings against Star this season and it comes with the former stretching its own winning streak to three that jacked its own record to 4-2.
“Akala ko hindi na namin sila matatalo this season,” gushed E-Painters coach Caloy Garcia after his team led by as many as 20 points in the third period before fending off Star’s late-game surge despite Beau Belga serving out a one-game suspension.
“It was all defense, starting in the first half. The energy was there, the effort was there,” added Garcia.
Sponsored content:
Malcolm Hill was main focus of that Rain or Shine clamp-down anchored on Norwood, but the former still scraped together 26 points and 20 rebounds to pace Star, which saw its unbeaten start to the conference cut short at four.
With a 4-1 slate the Hotshots were relegated into a tie at second-running spot with idle Barangay Ginebra.
Paul Lee added 17 points, Ian Sangalang and Allein Maliksi each had at least 10, Gilas player Jio Jalalon also saw action after sitting out a 100-81 win against Phoenix last Wednesday.
Even Marc Pingris saw extended minutes in only his second game back after a five-month layoff due to a hip injury, but the Hotshots still visibly struggled in the face of unrelenting pressure from the E-Painters, who opened up the third period with an 11-2 surge to go up 52-32.
Cruz came off the bench for 18 markers of his own while Norwood wound up with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Almazan bucking flu-like symptoms for 13 and 14.
Sponsored content:
“Everybody who played today came out strong,” noted Garcia. “When we play good defense, our offense comes.”
Star did flash its recent fiery form in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter and used some long bombs to whittle the deficit to just 72-75, still 5:24 to go.
Cruz was quick to come to the E-Painters’ rescue, however, with a pair of free throws and a putback before draining a couple of treys that pushed their lead back up to 87-77, only 2:40 left.
Mark Barrroca, Sangalang and Lee would push Star back within five but charities by Maverick Ahanmisi and Norwood helped keep Rain or Shine’s head above water.
