THE rainy days are over for the Elasto Painters.
Propped up by a big second half breakaway, Rain or Shine ripped Blackwater 107-90 yesterday for its second straight win and kept alive its quarterfinals bid in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Rey Nambatac sparkled with a game-high 26 points, pulled down seven rebounds, and issued four assists off the bench, while rookie Gian Mamuyac chipped in 20 markers, five boards, and three dimes as the Elasto Painters improved their mark to 306.
Beau Belga also had 12 and five and Gabe Norwood 10 points and eight caroms for Rain or Shine, which notched its second straight win, counting a 96-86 triumph over NLEX five days ago, for the first time after losing six in a row in the season-opening tourney.
The Bossing, reeling from a sorry 107-110 overtime defeat to San Miguel Beer last Sunday, slipped to 5-3 in a tie with Magnolia.
E-Painters coach Chris Gavina said his charges rose to his challenge of being consistent.
“We definitely hit a nail in the head with the word ‘resiliency,’ our guys being able to put together two consecutive excellent performances. In our pre-game speech, I said being consistent is a challenge and being excellent is a habit,” Gavina said.
“Could we build those habits to be excellent on back-to-back games? It showed tonight, like what Rey (Nambatac) said, our young guys have really embraced their bigger roles and it allowed him to be more like him coming off the bench,” he added.
Rain or Shine trailed 41-45 at the half but fought back via a 9-0 blitz capped by a Mamuyac three-pointer that pulled the E-Painters to within 45-47 at the 11:10 mark of the third canto.
After turning the tide in its favor, Rain or Shine took a 78-68 lead heading into the payoff period.
The Bossing last threatened at 83-92 on a Rashawn McCarthy free throw at the 3:45 mark of the fourth before the E-Painters countered with seven straight points, the last on a Norbert Torres triple that made it a 99-83 game with 2:28 to go.
Andrei Caracut’s two freebies gave Rain or Shine its biggest lead 105-86, only 34 ticks left.
Brandon Ganeulas-Rosser paced Blackwater with 19 points and two rebounds, while Ato Ular and Baser Amer had 13 markers each.
JVee Casio also added 11 points for the Bossing.
