PBA action: Rain or Shine finally beats Alaska

11/19/2008 10:29 PM

WEDNESDAY

1ST GAME

Rain or Shine scored an impressive 92-88 win over Alaska Aces Wednesday night in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum, blocking the Aces’ attempt to notch their 700th franchise win.

Jay-R Reyes was seamless in the three-point area as he shot 5-of-5 behind the arc to finish with 24 points to go along with 11 rebounds. The Elasto Painters now have six wins in 11 games.

Rookies Gabe Norwood and Solomon Mercado also delivered the crucial points down the stretch to help Rain or Shine snap its two-game skid while denying the Aces their 700th win in 23 seasons in the league.

"I think this is our biggest win in this conference," said Elasto Painters coach Caloy Garcia who drew 20 points from Mercado.

"This is the first time we beat Alaska which I think is one of the strongest teams this conference, and to be able to compete with them shows we've improved a lot," Garcia added.

The win also avenged their 84-91 loss to the Uytengsu franchise in the first round.

The win snapped the Aces' four-game winning streak but remained at the top of the team standings with an 8-3 win-loss mark.

It could have been a memorable night for Alaska as it was eyeing its 700th victory to join two other ballclubs San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra in that exclusive list.

"Once again, my rookies played big tonight," said Garcia. "Gabe proved that he's not a soft player as he played on both ends of the court while Sol provided stablity in the fourth quarter."

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SECOND GAME

Sta. Lucia beats San Miguel, 100-95

In the second game, defending champion Sta. Lucia Realty banked on the exploits of Joseph Yeo and Norman Gonzales in disposing San Miguel Beer, 100-95, for its third straight win, strengthening its hold at third spot with 6-4 slate.

Yeo and Gonzales posted career-highs to fill up the slack as the Realtors played minus reigning MVP Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes due to injuries.

Yeo netted a personal-best 38 points while Gonzales also listed a career-high of 25 points to lead Sta. Lucia to the victory while handing the Beermen their second straight loss to slide down to 7-4.

San Miguel tried to get closer at 84-88 with a little over two minutes left in the game before Gonzales a drilled crucial three-pointer and Yeo complete a three-point play to push the lead back to 94-84, with a less than two minutes left in the game.

Bonbon Custodio led the Beermen with 19 points while Lordy Tugade chipped in 15 markers.

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