SAVE for some stretches, Rain or Shine looked like the well-oiled machine it usually is.
The same cannot be said of Alaska with its manpower problems, enabling the Elasto Painters to spoil the Aces' season debut with an 85-72 win Sunday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Rain or Shine got off to a quick start and then hung tough in the face of undermanned Alaska's fiercer stance in the second half to follow up its 108-98 win over defending champion San Miguel Beer just last Friday.
Rey Nambatac's 12 points were enough to pace the E-Painters, who also drew 11 points and a gamehigh five assists from Beau Belga, as well as a game-best 14 rebounds on top of eight points from guard Maverick Ahanmisi.
"Good win for us," said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia after his team's second straight win that gave it a 4-1 slate overall that solidified its hold on second-running spot behind unbeaten leader Phoenix.
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It is undeniable, however, that the biggest factor which stacked the odds in the E-Painters' favor was the fact Alaska showed up minus key players Jayvee Casio, Vic Manuel, Simon Enciso and Kevin Racal, who are nursing injuries.
"We're lucky that Alaska didn't come up with a full lineup and at the same time furst game jitters lang siguro sa kanila and some of their new guys are still trying to find their way around their system," noted Garcia.
Chris Banchero and Sonny Thoss, who were previously also in the off-season injured list, saw action but could not prevent the Aces' sour debut in the season-opening tournament.
Jeron Teng led all scorers with 15 points, Jake Pascual 12 points and nine boards and Banchero 11 markers.
Rookie Javee Mocon only had five points, but did corral 11 rebounds and helped Rain or Shine emerge with a 57-47 advantage in that department.
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James Yap, Rain or Shine's leading scorer with 17.5 per game, missed his first five shots from the field and eventually wound up with just nine points on a 3-for-14 clip, but that didn't pose much of a problem for the E-Painters.
Rain or Shine actually took control of the game right in the closing minutes of the opening quarter, using a 9-2 closing run to take a 25-14 lead and then stretched a 48-30 halftime advantage to a high of 55-33, early in the third.
The way his team limited Alaska to a 9-for-40 field shooting and seven turnovers in the first half obviously pleased Garcia.
"The nice thing about it is, this is the first time we played great defense," said Garcia. "We limited them to just 30 points (in the first half). But iyon nga, we allowed them to make a run, but everybody stepped up in the team."
Indeed, Alaska kept itself from being completely blown out by using its own defense, which forced Rain or Shine into 21 turnovers, nine more than the Aces.
Nine of those miscues were committed by Rain or Shine in the third period, helping hold it down to just 16 points enabled Alaska to whittle the deficit to 49-63 and go into the final canto trailing by just 51-64.
It's just that the E-Painters had more to shell out in the final quarter with Raymond Almazan's followup making it a very safe 83-64 count, only 2:21 left.
The scores:
Rain or Shine 85 - Nambatac 12, Belga 11, Almazan 10, Yap 9, Ahanmisi 8, Torres 7, Mocon 5, Norwood 5, Daquioag 4, Maiquez 4, Ponferada 4, Rosales 3, Borboran 3, Onwubere 0.
Alaska 72 - Teng 15, Pascual 12, Banchero 11, Galliguez 9, Exciminiano 6, Thoss 6, Ayaay 6, Baclao 4, Cruz 2, Potts 1, Babilonia 0.
Quarters: 25-14, 48-30, 64-51, 85-72.
