PBA: Rain or Shine overwhelms Alaska for back-to-back wins

MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATED) The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters gave the debuting Alaska Aces a rude welcome to the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup.

A balanced effort allowed the Elasto Painters to clobber the Aces, 85-72, on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena for their second straight win of the All-Filipino Conference.

Rain or Shine improved to 4-1, while sending the undermanned Alaska -- playing its first game of the season -- off to a losing start. The Elasto Painters currently sit at solo second place, just behind unbeaten Phoenix (4-0).

"It's a good win for us," ROS coach Caloy Garcia said afterwards. "We're lucky that Alaska also didn't come up with a full line-up, and at the same time, first game jitters lang siguro sa kanila 'yan, na they're trying to run their system."

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A superb defensive effort in the first half set the tone for Rain or Shine. They built a 48-30 lead at the break, limiting the Aces to just 22.5% shooting from the field.

The Elasto Painters led by as much as 22 points, 55-33, early in the third quarter before Alaska returned to its tried-and-tested press in an effort to cut into the deficit. They trimmed the lead to 13 points heading into the payoff period, 64-51, but never got the deficit to single digits.

Rain or Shine surged ahead by 19 points in the fourth frame, 79-60, after Beau Belga waltzed into the lane for an unimpeded lay-up before a late run orchestrated by Chris Banchero pushed Alaska closer.

"Everybody is stepping up in our team, so we just have to be consistent in the future games," said Garcia.

Rey Nambatac scored 12 points, Belga finished with 11, and Raymond Almazan had 10 for the Elasto Painters. All but two players that Garcia sent in got on the scoreboard. The E-Painters also limited the Aces to just 29.9% shooting for the game.

Jeron Teng led Alaska with 15 points, while Jake Pascual added 12 markers and Chris Banchero had 11.

But the Aces clearly missed the services of Vic Manuel, JVee Casio, and Kevin Racal, all of whom are out with various injuries.

The scores:

Rain or Shine 85 - Nambatac 12, Belga 11, Almazan 10, Yap 9, Ahanmisi 8, Torres 7, Mocon 5, Norwood 5, Daquioag 4, Maiquez 4, Ponferada 4, Rosales 3, Borboran 3, Onwubere 0.

Alaska 72 - Teng 15, Pascual 12, Banchero 11, Galliguez 9, Exciminiano 6, Thoss 6, Ayaay 6, Baclao 4, Cruz 2, Potts 1, Babilonia 0.

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