RAIN or Shine caught fire in the fourth quarter to pull down Blackwater, 122-117, and end its skid in the PBA Governors Cup Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Rain or Shine vs Blackwater recap
Santi Santillan, Nick Demusis, and new import Greg Smith II sparked a 19-5 Elasto Painters run to open the final period that began with them trailing by eight.
By the time Rain or Shine was through, it already held a 106-100 lead and never looked back.
Smith had 38 points in his PBA debut, while Santillan added 16 as the Elasto Painters finally broke through after losing their first four games of the conference.
Santillan finished with 16 points to lead the E-Painters.
"Hindi na namin alam yung pakiramdam ng manalo. Ang tagal na, e," said winning coach Yeng Guiao.
The loss was the fourth straight for Blackwater and fell to a 1-5 record despite getting another stellar scoring from import Troy Williams, who finished with a game-high 40 points including 24 in the first half.
Williams actually played a big part in the Bossing taking a 95-87 lead at the end of the third quarter where he scored 10 points and teamed up with rookie Tyrus Hill and veteran Rashawn McCarthy.
But the Elasto Painters began to play with urgency to start the final quarter as Santillan and Jewel Ponferrada hit back-to-back threes to spark the game’s telling run.
Demusis and Smith later joined the fray and sustained the momentum to give the team its biggest lead of the game, 115-106, with three minutes to play.
Smith added six rebounds and five assists despite still feeling jetlag following a 14-hour flight on the way here.
Demusis finished with 12 points, so did Beau Belga and rookie Shaun Ildefonso.
The scores
Rain or Shine (122) -- Smith 38, Santillan 16, Demusis 12, Belga 12, Ildefonso 12, Nambatac 9, Asistio 7, Clarito 5, Ponferrada 4, Norwood 4, Caracut 3, Torres 0, Yap 0.
Blackwater (117) -- Williams 40, Sena 15, Hill 14, McCarthy 10, Ilagan 8, Ular 7, Casio 5, Amer 5, Ayonayon 4, Banal 3, Suerte 3, Taha 2, Torralba 0.
Quarterscores: 34-31; 66-67; 87-95; 122-117.
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