RAIN or Shine took care of business as it cruised to a 97-87 victory over exiting Meralco to hold a tighter grip on second place and move a step closer to securing a Top 2 finish in the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.
Jeff Chan fired five triples on his way to a game-high 24 points on 57 percent shooting, while grabbing eight rebounds to lead the Elasto Painters’ charge.
Not to be outdone, Raymund Almazan likewise had monster double-double performance of 21 points and a game-high 17 rebounds for Rain or Shine.
The Elasto Painters are now 8-2 in the team standings, where they kept their second-running spot behind pace-setting San Miguel Beer.
An explosive second half allowed Rain or Shine to seize control of the game en route to the win.
The Elasto Painters outscored the Bolts, 55-38, in the final 24 minutes after trailing, 43-49, at halftime.
The Painters now need to win their final assignment against NLEX on Saturday to grab an outright semifinal berth and a Top 2 finish.
“This is an important win for us. We needed this to remain at No. 2. Now we just need to win our last game to get to the semifinals,’’ said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.
Meralco ended its dismal conference with only one win against 10 losses.
Jared Dillinger led Meralco with 15 points off the bench.
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 97 – Chan 24, Almazan 21, Cruz 13, Belga 9, Norwood 8, Quinahan 5, Ahanmisi 4, Ponferada 4, Teng 3, Ibanes 2, Matias 2, Trollano 2, Tiu 0.
MERALCO 87 – Dillinger 15, Amer 13, Newsome 12, Alapag 10, Nabong 9, Hodge 8, Hugnatan 8, Buenafe 7, Al-Hussaini 5, David 0, Faundo 0.
Quarters: 23-22, 42-49, 67-66, 97-87
Games Friday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
4:15 p.m. – Talk ‘N Text vs. GlobalPort