RAIN or Shine spewed fire from the get-go and still had plenty in reserve to hold off NorthPort, 115-105, Wednesday and stretch its streak in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Beau Belga anchored his new career-high 28 points on 18 first half points, pointing the Elasto Painters to as much as a 22-point lead that served them in good stead in the face of protracted uprisings by the Batang Pier.
In the end, Rain or Shine completed the wire-to-wire win, its fifth straight that put it currently among the top eight teams. Not bad at all for a team that seemed doomed following a 0-4 start.
"I think primarily this win is because we had a good start," offered head coach Yeng Guiao. "Nu'ng first (half) lumamang kami ng 22. From there magkaka-streak sila, makakabalik kami, naalagaan na namin. But if it were not for that good start talagang makikipagkayuran ka hanggang huli."
The loss was NorthPort's third straight, dropping it to a 4-4 record.
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Such an outcome seemed preordained after the Batang Pier opened up the game missing their first six shots and committing five turnovers to trail by 0-12.
Rain or Shine even stretched the lead to as much as 40-18, before NorthPort managed to trim the deficit to just 10 at the half.
Thanks to Zav Lucero and Allyn Bulanadi, the Batang Pier even got within 56-60, but Jhonard Clarito, Mark Borboran and Belga padded the E-Painters' lead to 81-72 at the end of the third period before Adrian Nocum led the team in making sure their foes would come no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Lucero also set a new career-high with 29 points on top of seven boards while Allyn Bulanadi likewise re-set his career-best with 26 points as they tried to make up for a rough scoring night from usual top gunners Arvin Tolentino and Joshua Munzon.
Tolentino was limited to 11 points on just eight shots while Munzon was worse off with just six points on as many tries.
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As a team, NorthPort also made just three of their 25 three-point tries and gave up 29 charity tries to Rain or Shine, which made all but seven of those.
Rain or Shine was beset by no such problems, particularly Belga, who went 12-of-17 from the field, including 3-of-5 from downtown, while adding 13 rebounds and seven assists.
"Natutuwa kami dahil consistent si Beau, kailangan siya talagang mag-double time. Kulang kami sa malaki," said Guiao. "Si Keith Datu, si Luis (Villegas) di pa rin makakalaro. Pero pinupunuan naman ni Beau."(NC)
The Scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 115 - Belga 28, Clarito 17, Nocum 16, Borboran 12, Caracut 8, Asistio 7, Mamuyac 6, Santillan 5, Ildefonso 5, Belo 5, Demusis 4, Paredes 2.
NORTHPORT 105 - Lucero 29, Bulanadi 26, Rosales 12, Tolentino 11, Flores 9, Amores 8, Munzon 6, Navarro 4, Paraiso 0, Yu 0, Zamar 0, Cuntapay 0, Adamos 0.
QUARTERS: 24-14, 48-38, 81-72, 115-105
