Rain or Shine's Jeff Chan uses a pick set up by teammate Jireh Ibanes to fire a fade-away jumper off Talk N Text guard Kevin Alas as Jayson Castro (L, foreground) looks on in Saturday night's PBA Governors' Cup road game in Bacolod City. JAY R. GOTERA Saudi Gazette
MANILA — The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters started slow but came roaring like wildfire in the endgame to scorch the Talk N Text Tropang Texters, 88-73, Saturday night in a PBA Governors' Cup road game in Bacolod City. The victory somehow avenged the Painters' heartbreaking defeat in seven games at the hands of the Texters in this year's Commissioner's Cup finals. The win enabled ROS to forge a three-way tie with TNT and idle Barangay Ginebra at seventh to ninth place in the standings, all with a 3-4 win-loss card. The Texters absorbed their third straight loss as they fell to the bottom half of the standings. Import Wendell McKines once again led ROS, scoring 28 points and snaring 12 rebounds. Jeff Chan, playing before his provincemates, added 10 points on top of eight boards and four assists. Rookie Raymond Almazan also posted 10 markers, all scored in the second half when the Painters outscored the Texters, 52-30. The Painters were ice-cold at the start of the game, ending the first quarter with just 13 points to show as against the Texters' 22. The deficit grew to 15, 30-15, early in the second quarter. But suddenly, the Painters caught fire late in the second quarter, unleashing a 14-2 run to close the gap at 32-29. The first half ended with TNT still on top by seven, 43-36. It was in the third canto when the Painters finally unleashed their bottled up fury, storming to grab the lead by as many as 11 points. McKines led the ROS juggernaut in the second half, scoring 16 of his points in that period while grabbing 16 rebounds. There was no stopping the Painters in the fourth quarter as they cruised to an easy victory. Steffphon Pettigrew led the Texters with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Jayson Castro and Ranidel de Ocampo finished with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Games Sunday: Global Port Batang Pier vs. Barako Bull Energy and Star Hotshots vs. Barangay Ginebra Kings.
