Painters reclaim PBA lead as Llamados fall

Yeng Guiao is reaping the fruits of having prepared Rain or Shine hard and early, though even he is surprised at the rate he and his Elasto Painters have so far succeeded.
The Painters reclaimed the PBA Governors’ Cup lead Sunday night after a 100-90 decision of Barako Bull, and they were able to pound out the easy win even with super rookie Paul Lee playing just eight minutes and import Jamelle Cornley relatively silent offensively.
Lee injured his left shoulder in the dying second of the second quarter and never returned, but his absence was hardly felt as the focused Painters stayed in command and improved to 6-1 overall with their second straight win.
Jeff Chan scored 11 points in the breakaway second quarter for the Painters and finished with 19, while Cornley contributed 18 and had just six rebounds as Rain or Shine won despite being mangled off the boards, 32-56.
“I was expecting we were going to play well this conference,” said Guiao, who bared that they brought in Cornley early to get him acclimatized and familiar with his teammates..
“That’s the key to the format that we have right now: early preparation and early wins if you want to have a chance in the Finals,” Guiao added. “(But I was) not (expecting that we would do) was well as we’re doing right now.” The Painters seized complete command late in the second period and closed out the half comfortably ahead, 57-43, even with Lee injuring his left shoulder in a scramble for possession against Leroy Hickerson.
Though Lee never returned, Guiao was quick to point out that they injury is not serious, and that he could have played the former University of the East ace had things gotten out of hand in the second half.
“I don’t think it’s serious,” Guiao said of Lee’s injury. “Since we had a good lead, I kept him on the bench. I thought it (fielding Lee back in) wasn’t necessary, but he could have played.” Rain or Shine actually was able to grab the solo lead after B-Meg, which started the day tied with the Painters, fell in a lopsided manner to sister team Petron Blaze, 92-80, in the second game.
The Boosters, the defending champions here, snapped a two-game slide with the win and dealt the Llamados their first loss in six games and second in seven overall for second place behind the Painters.
Jay Washington tied his career-high with 29 points that went with nine rebounds, and Eddie Basden, the National Basketball Association vet, had 22 and 11 as the Boosters finished their foes with a flurry this time to rise to 4-3.
“I think we did a good job defensively,” coach Ato Agustin told reporters. “And of course, there was Jay-Wash, he let it all hang out there tonight.”
Washington had five crucial points in the fourth period, including the back-breaking triple that finally snuffed the fight out of the Llamados, 85-76, going into the final four minutes.
Marcus Blakely led the Llamados with 28 points and former two-time MVP James Yap had 15, but the usual big contributors like PJ Simon, Marc Pingris and JC Intal were held to single digits for a combined 15 points.
There was also a lot of physical action with Jojo Duncil of Petron being thrown out in the second quarter because of a flagrant foul 2 call even if he was riding the bench.
Duncil, the former UST ace in the UAAP, tripped Josh Urbiztondo in the sidelines while the B-Meg guard was chasing down a looseball. He was promptly ejected and will likely be suspended and penalized heavily.
Pingris and Washington also got into a scuffle at halfcourt after a heated play.