Rain or Shine more than held its own in a fierce shootout with NorthPort and pulled off a 107-100 victory to stay right behind front-running Phoenix Pulse in the PBA Philippine Cup at the MOA Arena in Pasay City Friday night.
James Yap sizzled with six three-pointers and a total of 19 points and the Elasto Painters erupted for 16 three-pointers in all as against 15 by Stanley Pringle and his teammates in an explosive match.
Giving away 89 points a game in their previous matches, the E-Painters yielded a lot more in this outing, but played good basketball when it mattered the most, thus, salvaging a third straight win and fifth in six games in all.
Held to 11 points in the fourth quarter and blanked in the last 3:40 mark, the Batang Pier reeled to a second loss in four outings.
"For my age, it's about working hard and discipline," said Yap in a stellar game also marked by five assists, three rebounds and two steals against one error in 32 minutes of action.
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Norbert Torres and Maverick Ahanmisi made three triples each while Raymond Almazan and Beau Belga rifled in two apiece in a torrid shooting that helped them keep their winning ways going to their interesting match with league-leader Phoenix Pulse Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Torres, sparkling with 16 points, mentioned extra work in practice as a key in their romp.
"That's what we do in practice. We focus on outside shooting before and after the game," said Torres, also crediting the job of their coaches.
"Our coaches discipline us to trust ourselves whether we're up or we're down, trailing," said Torres.
The E-Painters we're down by three at 97-100 before finishing the game with a 10-to-nothing salvo.
It was a rollercoaster game where the E-Painters held sway in the opening quarter, then Batang Pier seized the upper hand then stayed in command from the second to third periods before ROS got back into the fight early in the fourth.
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Rey Nambatac, Ahanmisi and Belga had a hand in the E-Painters' fourth-quarter turnaround that negated the 56-point combined explosion of Stanley Pringle and Sean Anthony.
Pringle fired seven treys to highlight a 34-point game while Anthony added 22 markers, including five three-pointers.
Moala Tautuaa was another NorthPort that came out strong, putting in 16 markers.
But the E-Painters dished out a much more balanced game with six players - Yap, Belga, Torres, Almazan, Ahanmisi and Nambatac -- ending up in double figures.
Nambatac played a key role in the payoff period. (SB)
