EVEN Yeng Guiao couldn’t believe what he was seeing upon looking at the jumbotron of the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, as the clock was winding down to its final seconds of Rain or Shine’s PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup game against Blackwater.
The score read 151-95, seeing the Elasto Painters notch a fourth straight win and remain on top of the standings as the only undefeated team in the midseason conference.
READ: ROS brandishes depth, firepower in 56-point romp over Blackwater
Guiao was astounded by the outcome, but thrilled with the way his team achieved a new all-time mark in both PBA and franchise history.
“Tinignan ko nga yung score, sabi ko parang All-Star game,” said the RoS coach, who can’t exactly remember when the last time he coached a team that scored as many as the Elasto Painters did in this one.
“Pero there will come nights like this.”
Truly, it was a special, All-Star Game-like performance by Rain or Shine, which now owns the all-time record for biggest winning margin at 56 points.
PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III had to dig up tons of files to declare a new record holder, as the Elasto Painters beat by a single point the previous mark of 55 (154-99) owned by U-Text when it routed Great Taste during the 1980 Open Conference semifinals.
RoS' 151-point total is also the highest in franchise history, surpassing its old record in its 139-95 beating of Meralco in the 2021 Philippine Cup eliminations.
The offensive output also currently stands as the team's new conference high and second-most for Season 50 just behind San Miguel’s 158-117 rout of Titan Ultra in the Philippine Cup.
Likewise, Rain or Shine’s 42-15 lead to end the first period was the highest in seven years - or since the Beermen held a 37-13 edge against Barangay Ginebra after one quarter during the 2024 Governors’ Cup.
Red hot RoS
Led by Andrei Caracut with 22 points – 18 of them in the first period – a total of eight Elasto Painters ended up in double-figures, while only two in Beau Belga and Caelan Tiongson failed to score among the 16 players fielded in.
But Guiao was quick to downplay the runaway win.
“Coach Jeff [Cariaso] had a bad night with his team, and that’s not their real game,” the RoS mentor pointed out.
“They (Bossing) beat Magnolia the last time, so we approached this game very cautiously. Sabi ko sa team in the dugout, if by the fourth quarter Blackwater is close to us in the scores, we will have a problem, we will have to grind this game out
“Mabuti na lang, nakalayo kami nang maaga.”
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