ANTIPOLO – Rain or Shine added to San Miguel's frustrations in the form on a 108-98 victory on Friday to claim its third win in four outings in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center.
James Yap continued his strong start to the season as he scored 21 points to set the tone for the Elastopainters, who were quick to bounce back after suffering their first defeat at the hands of Blackwater just last Wednesday.
Rookie Javee Mocon also provided the spark for Rain or Shine, finishing with 18 points and 17 rebounds while Norbert Torres scored 15 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting in a game where the Elastopainters led by as many as 18 points.
The Beermen suffered their second straight loss to fall to 2-3 in Terrence Romeo’s first game back from an ankle injury.
Here's a worrying stat: San Miguel had never lost matches two in a row in the past four Philippine Cup editions that they were the champions, according to PBA statistics chief Fidel Mangonon III.
“It feels really good to beat a top team but ang sabi ko before the game, to remember the loss to Blackwater, because we played two good games and then when we lost to Blackwater, we were sent back down to earth,” said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia.
“Basically, I told them if want to go far in this tournament, we have to play consistently. Today, we came out and played good. Iba ‘yung desire nila in today’s game compared to the way we played against Blackwater,” he added.
Yap and Maverick Ahanmisi scored back-to-back treys in a 13-0 run that opened a 44-33 lead for Rain or Shine. Torres went 3-of-3 from three-point land and the Elastopainters went 13-of-31 from there as a team.
Von Pessumal banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter to cut Rain or Shine’s lead down to six, 86-80, but the Beermen never got any closer.
Marcio Lassiter scored 27 points while June Mar Fajardo had 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Beermen, who played without Arwind Santos after the veteran forward was downed by food poisoning.
Romeo had 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting before fouling out with four minutes left in the game.
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