Prized rookies deliver - Rain or Shine

Rain or Shine, with another tremendous lift from its new recruits, pulled one over Red Bull for the first time ever last night.

Tyrone Tang, Gabe Norwood and Sol Mercado rifled in the crucial treys in the fourth quarter and the Elasto Painters held off the Bulls, 96-90, for their second straight victory in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Astrodome.

“We let our guard down in the second half but the nice thing was that our rookies showed tremendous composure and bailed us out,” said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia.

“It’s the first time we beat Red Bull and it’s a big morale boost for us in time for our next game against San Miguel,” Garcia said.

Tang, Norwood and Mercado combined for four triples in the last six minutes of play in an awesome display of shooting prowess and composure for the rookies with each triple thwarting every Red Bull fightback.

Celino Cruz scored all his 17 points in the fourth quarter and the Bulls bounced back from a 24-point deficit and closed to within, 74-76.

The Elasto Painters, however, kept their poise under tremendous pressure, warding off the rallying Bulls with their triples to make it two in a row in the season following a 120-102 debut rout over the Air21 Express Sunday in the same venue.

Six Rain or Shine players in Tang, Norwood, Mercado, Ryan Arana, JayR Reyes and Rob Wainwright churned out double digit scores as the Elasto Painters beat the Bulls for the first time in nine games or since they joined the pros in 2006.

Red Bull has beaten the Asian Coatings franchise by an average of 10.5 points in their previous meetings in the all-Filipino tourney.

Cruz single-handedly brought the Bulls back into the game as he hit his stride in the payoff period, going 5-of-5 from beyond the arc with the last cutting the Elasto Painters’ lead at 84-87.

Norwood, the top draft pick, eased up the pressure with his own trey, giving Rain or Shine a 90-84 cushion with 1:49 left to play.

“We did a good job as a team. It’s great. We’re doing the right thing. We’re a young team. We’re excited and we’re having fun,” said Norwood, making 12 rebounds, 11 points, four assists, three blocks and one steal in his second game in the pros.

Wainwright stood at the forefront of Rain or Shine’s fiery second-quarter charge that had the team racing to a 53-32 lead at the turn.

In the second game, San Miguel Beer clobbered Purefoods, 111-98, in a one-sided game marred by a confrontation between James Yap and Jay Washington.

“We caught them a little flat. They’re coming off an uphill battle and they came out sluggish,” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen.

The 6-foot-3 Fil-Am forward was perfect from the field – 5-of-5 – in the first half but failed to finish the game as he hurt his left knee in a mad scramble for the ball midway through the third period.

Arana, a sophomore guard-forward from La Salle, took over from Wainwright, pumping in nine in the final half and finishing with a team-high 15 points. He also had four assists, two rebounds, one steal and one block.

Meanwhile, the league holds its first out-of-town game in the season with Coca-Cola and Alaska Milk clashing at 5 p.m. today at the Victorias Sports and Amusement Center in Victorias, Negros Occidental.