Rain or Shine debuted its prized rookie Friday night but got the goods from its old guns in the end.

Paul Lee and Beau Belga took turns in hitting the shots that hurt Meralco the most, with a 94-89 victory over the Bolts keeping the Elasto Painters perfect and shoving them into the early lead in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Raymond Almazan, who ended his collegiate career as the NCAA MVP after being drafted third overall by the Painters, struggled big-time in his first game, winding up scoreless in 14 minutes and looking lost the whole night.

Maybe it was also because Meralco played tough defense that the whole Rain or Shine team didn’t look as impressive as the way it did in an impressive win over Alaska in the inaugurals last Sunday.

“It was a hard, tough win,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao. “We’re happy we came out on top because I thought we played really bad today. Meralco forced us into playing a really bad game.” They were not really great the whole night, but the Painters made sure that did everything right in the stretch as they held the Bolts without a point inside the final 50 seconds to post their second straight win and keep Meralco winless in two matches.

Lee, the Rookie of the Year two seasons ago, converted on a three-point play off Reynel Hugnatan that erased an 87-89 deficit, before Belga made the last four Rain or Shine points from the stripe to tie his career high.

The burly Belga finished with 20 points and seven rebounds and was the Best Player of the Game.

But there were a lot of others who contributed heavily for Guiao, with Ryan Arana shooting 14 points in just 20 minutes and Larry Rodriguez, Lee and Jeff Chan all finishing in twin digits.

Gary David, the scoring champion the last two seasons, drilled in 24 points but had a crucial airball after the Painters had taken that one-point lead after the Lee three-point play.

Rabeh Al-Hussaini shoved the Bolts up for the last time at 89-87 with a long jumper entering the final 50 seconds.

In the nightcap, Alaska rose to 1-1 with an 84-80 win over San Mig Coffee not actually telling the true story of how dominant the Aces were all game.

Alaska, the reigning Commissioner’s Cup champion, led by as many as 19 points before playing in cruise control the rest of the way and eventually dealing the rock-solid Mixers a second straight defeat.

Wilfred Uytengsu, the Alaska owner, celebrated his 52nd birthday yesterday and added P52,000 for every point in the total winning margin aside from the P40 million earlier donated to victims of Supertyphoon Yolanda in the southern provinces.

Sonny Thoss had 19 points and eight rebounds and Cyrus Baguio finished with 18 and five assists as the duo formed a solid 1-2 punch for the Aces.

The Mixers played without PJ Simon and Joe Devance for the second straight game and were without rookie Justin Melton, who is nursing a broken hand.

Meanwhile, Talk ‘N Text and Petron Blaze, rock-solid squads who won their opening day assignments, clash Saturday for a piece of the lead even as Globalport and Air21 battle it out for a first win at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

The Tropang Texters, who are seeking an unprecedented fourth straight title here, and the Boosters take the Big Dome floor at 5:45 p.m.

Globalport, the busiest team in the off-season, is heavily favored against the Express in their 3:30 p.m. clash. Though the Batang Pier will be coming off a loss against the Boosters, the sheer firepower they pack in their lineup is more than enough to give them the edge.