Rain or Shine revives aspiration

New import provides board work

MANILA, Philippines — With new import Kwame Alexander filling in the void under the boards, Rain or Shine arrested a four-game skid and revived its playoffs aspiration in the PBA Governors’ Cup with a 99-82 dispatching of Blackwater last night at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Alexander, who came in to replace Kayel Locke, dropped 17 markers and hauled down 16 rebounds in his debut for the E-Painters, sparking a furious 30-15 fourth-quarter assault that paved the way for their second win in five starts. 

The crucial victory placed ROS in a tie with Blackwater and idle Phoenix Pulse at ninth spot.

“Finally we’re able to at least break the losing streak and still have the chance for the Top 8,” said ROS mentor Caloy Garcia, whose wards need similar results in their next four assignments to meet their quarterfinals objective.

Alexander was a steady force for ROS, adding three assists and three steals aside from his solid 3-13 rebounding output, to give Garcia a big lift.

“He gave us what we need  –  rebound, rebound, rebound. Today he came out well, except that he tweaked his ankle in the third quarter that’s why he slowed down a bit,” said Garcia.

NorthPort trade acquisition Christian Standhardinger put one over his old team San Miguel, helping the Batang Pier to a 127-119 verdict in the second game. 

Nine days after getting traded for Mo Tautuaa, the Fil-German quickly made an impact for NorthPort and produced 18-5-7 as he teamed up with debuting import Michael Qualls (40-18) and Jervy Cruz (21-10) in the Batang Pier’s third win in seven appearances for a share of No. 6.

The Batang Pier laid to waste the 56-point explosion of Dez Wells. and sent the Beermen down to 5-2.

The E-Painters broke free from an 84-81 count with a telling 8-0 salvo which Alexander kickstarted with a triple and capped with a three-point play off a steal, for an 11-point tear.

“We were lucky at the end we started hitting our shots, most of them were lucky shots,” said Garcia, whose charges doubled the tally of the Elite in the payoff period.

Rey Nambatac paced ROS with 18, making half of them in their searing windup while Beau Belga finished with 17 and Ed Daquioag had 13.

Rayray Parks led the way for Blackwater with 27, but went scoreless in the last 12 minutes. Marqus Blakely had 21 markers, 12 boards and five dole-outs.