By Ricky Manliguis
ANTIPOLO CITY—Behind balanced scoring, Rain or Shine clobbered also-ran Alaska,
112-82, in the first game of Wednesday action of the 2017 Oppo-PBA Governors’
Cup at the Ynares Center.
The Elasto Painters used a searing second quarter
assault to take the fight out of the already-eliminated Aces and kept its hunt
for a twice-to-beat quarterfinal spot
alive in the season-ending conference with its sixth victory in 10 outings.
J’Nathan Bullock topscored for the Asian Coatings
franchise with 14 points, eight of which came from ROS’ 34-18 second-quarter assault.
He also had four rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Jericho Cruz
and Beau Belga provided the punch off the bench, scoring 12 apiece. Don
Trollano was the other Painter in double-digits with 11.
Cruz was the catalyst in the third quarter, firing
10 points as ROS built a huge 37-point cushion, 98-61, then maintained it the
rest of the way.
Playing without stars Calvin Abueva and Sonny Thoss,
the Aces ended its elimination campaign with a 3-8 card. This game also was the
final game of veterans Dondon Hontiveros and Tony Dela Cruz.
“We needed a game like
this going into our final game in the eliminations,” ROS coach Caloy Garcia
said.
“I just told the players that we can’t just
come and play Alaska. We’re also lucky that Thoss and Calvin didn’t play
today.”
LaDontae Henton paced Alaska with a game-best 20 points and
seven boards, while Dela Cruz cashed in 12.
The scores:
Rain or Shine 112 – Bullock 14, Cruz
12, Belga 12, Trollano 11, Tiu 9, Robles 9, Borboran 9, Almazan 7, Yap 6,
Ahanmisi 5, Matias 4, King 4, Daquioag 4, Norwood 3, Maiquez 3, Ponferada 0
Alaska 82 - Henton 20, Dela Cruz 12,
Enciso 9, Manuel 9, Pascual 8, Casio 5, Exciminiano 5, Baclao 4, Cruz 3,
Galliguez 3, Hontiveros 2, Mendoza 2, Racal 0
Quarterscores: 29-23, 63-41, 92-61,
112-82
Follow him on Twitter: @Teaching_Hero