Forcing its foe to a pace that it likes, Rain or Shine last night got back in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup fight and put itself in a position to make a run at the leaders once again.
The Elasto Painters, running and gunning at every chance they got, ran Barako Bull to the ground and posted a 103-93 victory that snapped their two-game slide and got them back in position toward gunning for a top two slot at the Cuneta Astrodome.
“We shot the ball a lot better today,” coach Yeng Guiao, who turned 54 on Tuesday, said. “We were really looking to get our outside shooters their usual percentages from the perimeter to make things easier for (our import) Bruno (Sundov) inside.
“The key is that if we’re shooting the ball pretty well, the inside gets pretty comfortable for Bruno to operate on,” he continued. “We were able to make it a high-scoring, up-tempo ball game.
“It worked for us. That’s the way we like it.”
Guiao wasn’t the only happy coach after the night came to a close, as Franz Pumaren steered his underdog Air21 Express to an upset 87-82 decision of defending champion San Mig Coffee in the nightcap.
Sundov finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds and Paul Lee contributed 20, six assists and four rebounds in a sterling all-around effort as the Painters improved to 6-3 overall and are within half-a-game of second-running Petron Blaze.
Evan Brock led the Energy with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Barako Bull lost a fifth straight game and, if the playoffs were to start today, would be hitting the showers together with idle Globalport, which is at 2-7.
Michael Dunigan scattered 25 points that went with 20 rebounds and two blocks and Mike Cortez had 13 points, six assists and six rebounds as the Express won three straight games for just the second time in the history of the shopinas.com franchise.
Air21 was surprisingly in control of the match practically the whole night, leading by as many as 13 points in the third quarter and playing it smart in thwarting every single San Mig attempt at a comeback.
The Mixers, who won this tournament in seven pulsating games against Talk ‘N Text last season, battled back to three points several times early in the fourth quarter but lost steam in the stretch and dropped to 4-5 overall, the same record that Air21 now has.
“Beating a topnotch team like San Mig and a coach like Tim Cone, I am speechless,” Pumaren told reporters upon entering the press room. “We are a very underrated defensive team and I guess we showed them tonight.” Protecting a 73-68 lead, the Express held the Mixers to zero field goals for four minutes from there for an 85-74 lead going into the final 38 seconds.
Denzel Bowles, last year’s Best Import, paced the Mixers with 24 points and 12 rebounds and Peter June Simon added 20, including 10 in the third period that had San Mig crawling back into the game.
James Yap, the former two-time MVP, contributed 17 points despite personal problems.
On Tuesday, estranged wife Kris Aquino, the youngest sister of President Noynoy Aquino, filed for a protection order against Yap, whom the actress-host accused of trying to seduce her one night last December.
Yap didn’t talk to sports, entertainment and news media who tried to get his side before and after the contest.
Rain or Shine runs Barako Bull ragged
