Painters take luster off Elite

Yap shows way for new team

MANILA, Philippines - Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia primed James Yap for their next game against his former team, and the two-time MVP winner responded with a game-high 15 points to lead the Elasto Painters to a 107-93 win over the Blackwater Elite in a duel of joint front-runners in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Finally given an ample playing time, Yap made the most out of it, going 5-of-9 from the field, 3-of-3 from the line and also collected five rebounds and one assist against one turnover to help steer the E-Painters to their third win against one loss.

Raymond Almazan, Don Trollano, Jewel Ponferada, Jeff Chan, Gabe Norwood, Maverick Ahanmisi, Beau Belga and Jay Washington also turned in solid performances as the E-Painters scored another win following earlier victories over TNT KaTropa and Mahindra.

Almazan shone with 16 rebounds and 14 markers while Ponferada, Chan and Trollano also scored double-digit outputs as ROS dealt Blackwater its second straight loss after a 2-0 season start.

But not lost on everybody was Yap dishing out his best as an E-Painter.

“I purposely extended James’ minutes in this game as I wanted him to be ready for our next game against the Star Hotshots,” said Garcia.

“I wanted him to get his rhythm back. I played him with different combinations, and it turned out well. Hopefully, hindi siya manggigil. Sana si Paul Lee ang manggigil,” Garcia also said.

The E-Painters and the Hotshots, who swapped star players Yap and Lee in the offseason, slug it out in their keenly awaited match-up on Dec. 18.

Yap and his new teammates primed up well for the Hotshots, dominating the boards and rotating the ball well to send Mac Belo and the rest of the Blackwater team down on their knees.

In the second game, rookie Ed Daquiaog put in a second straight 23-point performance while sophomore Chris Newsome came up with a near triple-double job with 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as Meralco topped TNT KaTropa, 98-87, to gain a piece of second place at 2-1.

“I don’t think we’ve got TNT’s number. It goes in circle. Sometimes, it’s hard to beat a certain team,” said Meralco coach Norman Black of their fourth straight win over the Texters from their Governors Cup Final Four showdown.

“But it’s a big win against a tough TNT team through defense which was important for me,” Black added.

“I’d like to applaud my players for their defensive effort. I thought it’s extra-ordinary.” as they rebounded strong from a 74-81 loss to the Barangay Ginebra Kings the last time out.

“We came out better in the final half. I emphasized the need for a better ball movement and guys picked up pretty well,” said Garcia. “The only negative was that we got a lot of turnovers. We have to work on that area.”

But despite 27 errors as against Blackwater’s 17, the E-Painters dominated most of the way, leading by as many as 22 at 99-77.

Meanwhile, the Hotshots also brace themselves against the E-Painters as they take on the Phoenix Fuel Masters in a Petron Blaze Saturday Special tonight at the MOA Arena in Pasay City. 

The Fuel Masters set out for the 5 p.m. tussle on a two-game roll over the San Miguel Beermen and the Mahindra Floodbuster while the Hotshots ride the crest of an over-the-hump win over the NLEX Road Warriors.

Behind a torrid shooting and an efficient game through the first 40 minutes, the Fuel Masters built a huge 30-point lead before simply going through the motion for a 114-104 drubbing of the Floodbuster in their last game. They broke into the win-column on an upset of the Beermen early on.

Paul Lee fired four three-pointers and a total of 20 points in a breakout game with his new team while rookie Jio Jalalon tossed in 17 markers as the Star Hotshots chalked up a first win with a 99-75 rout of the NLEX Road Warriors Wednesday. 

The whole Star team actually got its act together to hand coach Chito Victolero his first win with the ball club. The team dropped its first two games against San Miguel Beer and GlobalPort before nailing a first win in the season.

NOTES: The Star Hotshots acquired Rome dela Rosa in exchange for Jake Pascual in a trade deal consummated ahead of their match with the Phoenix Fuel Masters tonight. Dela Rosa and Pascual were both champion players with the San Beda Red Lions in the NCAA. Pascual was No. 8 selection by Barako Bull in the 2014 PBA Draft where Dela Rosa was chosen at No. 13 pick by Alaska.

The scores:

First Game

RAIN OR SHINE 107 – Yap 15, Almazan 14, Ponferada 13, Chan 11, Trollano 11, Norwood 9, Ahanmisi 8, Belga 8, Washington 7, Cruz 6, Tolomia 5, Ibañes 0, Matias 0. 

BLACKWATER 93 – Aguilar 15, Belo 13, Dela Cruz 12, Sena 12, Buenafe 11, Pascual 8, Gamalinda 7, Pinto 6, Cervantes 4, Miranda 3, Ababou 2, Banal 0, Forrester 0, Perez 0.

Quarterscores: 16-19, 46-39, 75-59, 107-93

Second Game

MERALCO 98 – Daquioag 23, Al-Hussaini 14, Hugnatan 11, Newsome 11, Nabong 10, Amer 9, Hodge 9, Caram 6, Yeo 4, Grey 1, Faundo 0, Chua 0.

TNT 87 – Castro 23, Williams 19, De Ocampo 9, Pogoy 9, reyes 9, Tautuaa 6, Rosser 5, Rosario 4, Fonacier 3, Carey 0, Rosales 0.

Quarterscores: 26-23, 45-45, 75-69, 98-87