Rain or Shine stops Express to tie Alaska for top spot

Playing against possibly the best import in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup lot at the moment, Rain or Shine showed it can win – even with its own reinforcement not part of the telling equation.
The Elasto Painters’ locals took Air21’s Michael Dunigan out of his sweet spot when the game was on the line last night, pounding out a 94-83 victory over the Express that gave Rain or Shine a piece of the lead at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Rain or Shine dropped a crippling 19-4 bomb to open up the fourth period and held Dunigan to three meaningless points in the quarter as the Painters, the second-best local crew this season, rose to 8-3, now tied with idle Alaska for top spot.
And coach Yeng Guiao knows the value of the win as his Painters and Alaska part ways on Friday with the winner, according to the Rain or Shine coach, possibly assured of a twice-to-beat privilege in the quarterfinals.
Bruno Sundov, the 7-foot-3 Rain or Shine import, was on the bench when the deciding twist happened as he was saddled with fouls, as usual.
“I was a little worried when Bruno fell into the same pattern of fouling early,” Guiao explained after recalling Sundov to the bench from the 4:15 mark of the third until the final 4:33. “We had to sit him for a prolonged period.”
“It was very difficult to match up with their import, but the locals held their own. We were able to defend their import by helping each other out,” he continued. “They held their own for several minutes.
“When Bruno returned, I thought it was under control already,” Guiao said after his hard-fighting locals turned a 63-64 deficit into a commanding 82-68 lead going into the final five minutes.
So out of the flow was Dunigan that he had just one attempt in the fourth period, when he finished off an alley-oop pass from Mark Isip with a two-handed slam.
But then, it was all over but the shouting as the Express were already buried in a hole so deep they eventually saw an end to a franchise-best four-game winning streak to drop to 5-6, now tied with defending champion San Mig Coffee.
Beau Belga, Rain or Shine’s burly and rugged undersized center, epitomized the Painters’ hard-nosed defense on Dunigan, especially in the fourth period when he muscled the big Air21 import out of position every time he touched the ball.
After shooting eight, nine and 14 points in the first three periods, respectively, Dunigan could only account for three in the fourth.
Rain or Shine’s defense also took its toll on the Air21 locals, with only Nino Canaleta finishing in twin digits with 12 for the Express.
The Mixers, who like the Express came into the resumption of eliminations tied for fourth spot, fell in an upset 105-100 decision to Barako Bull later in the night and left idle Talk ‘N Text, Barangay Ginebra and Meralco in that fourth-place tie.
Barako Bull’s victory, which also snapped its six-game slide, gave the Energy a 4-7 card, still in ninth place but now just a full game behind the eighth and final playoff slot which the Mixers and the Express now occupy.
Meanwhile, Bobby Parks, the legendary former seven-time winner of the Best Import trophy, died on Saturday after a long and brave fight with cancer. He was 51 years old. The PBA will pay tribute to Parks by naming the Best Import trophy after him starting this conference.

Evan Brock led the Energy with 25 points and 15 rebounds and Josh Urbiztondo snapped out of a personal funk to drill in 22, 12 of them coming off three-pointers.
Denzel Bowles, the reigning Best Import of the tournament, paced the Mixers with 24 points and 18 rebounds with former two-time MVP James Yap adding 22.