MANILA: Rain or Shine finally broke through in the PBA Governors’ Cup, and in such a surprising way.

After leaving its best outside gunner back home in Manila, the Elasto Painters bombed Globalport from afar on Thursday night with their big men leading the way in a 119-112 decision of the Batang Pier at the Al Shabab Al Arabi gym in Dubai.

JR Quinahan connected on 4-of-8 attempts from beyond trifectaville and fellow wide-bodied slotman Beau Belga had three as the Painters led by as large as 18 points on the way to snapping a two-game losing streak.

The loss was the second straight for the Batang Pier after a 3-0 start. Globalport coach Pido Jarencio decided to rest top point guard Stanley Pringle because of a recurring foot injury.

Rain or Shine continued to play without gunslinger Jeff Chan and also left three-point specialist Chris Tiu back home because of different injuries.

And with Paul Lee not really dominating after finishing with just nine points, it was hard to imagine Rain or Shine dominating action because of its torrid shooting from the outside.

What’s even more amazing was that centers Quinahan and Belga combined for half of the squad’s total three-point conversions even as Rain or Shine finally got a dominating game from import Wendell McKines.

McKines, the former Alaska import whose overall worth to the team is being seriously evaluated in their two games in the oil-rich emirate, finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds.

Globalport debuted a third big import in Jarrid Famous and the Batang Pier got a career-high 40 points from Terrence Romeo.

The match was very physical, as Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao described it.

And the firebrand Guiao is hoping that his squad, undermanned and all, would have enough to play another bruising game against Barangay Ginebra on Friday night at 8 p.m. (12 midnight in Manila).

“We used our full rotation and tried to spread our minutes in order to be fresh for tomorrow’s game,” said Guiao.

“It’s only the first game and we need to win again tomorrow (Friday night),” said Guiao after the intense contest that finished closed to 3 a.m. Manila time. “It’s tiring, it’s tough, it’s a hard win and very physical.

“I am not really sure how we can recover but we’ll try to get rested,” he said. “We still need to draw up a game plan for Ginebra.”

Guiao had just 11 players at his disposal at game time and lost Raymond Almazan after five minutes with the 6-foot-7 center failing to continue because of a severe toothache that left half of his face swollen.

During practice on Wednesday, Rain or Shine shooting guard Jeric Teng also went down because of a severe ankle sprain.

Quinahan finished with 24 points and Belga 12, while Globalport got 26 points from Famous and 24 from Asian import Omar Krayem but very little from the rest.

Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra, which is at 1-3 and is also in dire need of a win, could play Japeth Aguilar against the Elasto Painters.

The 6-foot-9 Aguilar joined the team in practice on Wednesday but the Kings will continue to be without 7-foot slotman Greg Slaughter and the high-flying Chris Ellis.

Orlando Johnson, the prolific import, will be the prime offensive option of the Kings.