Painters on a roll, stop Dyip

MANILA, Philippines -- The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters secured their fourth straight win in the PBA Philippine Cup at the expense of the Terrafirma Dyip, 116-104, Saturday at the Caloocan Sports Complex.

Rain or Shine relied on its depth to get the win, with seven Elasto Painters scoring in double figures led by Beau Belga with another near triple-double of 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Terrafirma was able to keep things interesting in the final frame, cutting the lead to just three, 89-92, with a 3-pointer by Isaac Go with 9:42 left.

Rain or Shine then unleashed 10 straight points capped by a triple by Andrei Caracut to regain an insurmountable 13-point lead, 102-89, at the halfway point of the quarter.

The closest the Dyip got to was nine points, 93-102, with a layup by Go.

A backbreaking 12-5 run to end the game gave the victors their biggest lead of 16 points, 114-98, with an and-one play by Santi Santillan with 1:40 to go.

Caracut seconded Belga’s scoring output with 17 points, 10 assists and five rebounds.

Jhonard Clarito, Santillan and Mark Borboran also supplied the scoring punch with 16, 15 and 13 markers, respectively.

Mac Belo and Gian Mamuyac added 11 and 10.

Stephen Holt and Juami Tiongson spearheaded the Dyip with 20 points apiece.
The rookie Holt also had 13 assists and eight rebounds.

The game was close through the three quarters, with Rain or Shine leading by just five, 79-84, at the 2:47 mark of the third frame.

An 8-3 run to end the quarter pushed the Elasto Painters’ lead to 10, 92-82, going into the fourth, which set the tone for the final canto.

Rain or Shine dished out 40 assists in the game, becoming the first team to reach that mark since the San Miguel Beermen dished out 46 assists in their clash against the NorthPort Batang Pier in last season's Governors' Cup, according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.

The Elasto Painters, who lost their first four games, has pushed itself to the middle of the pack with a 4-4 win-loss record, while Terrafirma absorbed its second straight loss and dropped to 4-5.