Yeng or no Yeng, Rain or Shine wins

MANILA, Philippines - Rain or Shine rallied behind the suspension of coach Yeng Guiao and stayed in the running for the PBA Governors Cup finals with a big 96-81 upset of grand slam-seeking Talk n Text at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Responding well to assistant coach Caloy Garcia, the Elasto Painters played with determination and sense of urgency, dominating a stunned Talk n Text side to check a three-game slide.

The Elasto Painters redeemed themselves from a sorry loss to the B-Meg Llamados Friday where they blew a 17-point lead in a game that saw coach Guiao approach commissioner Chito Salud to raise an issue about officiating.

Guiao hit the refs during the game, hinting at biased officiating – a breach of a league rule causing his suspension in last night’s game.

The Elasto Painters, however, used Guiao’s absence as a driving force as they fought with great resolve from start to finish to nail their fifth win against the same number of defeats.

“We prepared long and hard for Talk n Text. Coach Yeng motivated the boys and they came out playing with their hearts out. All I did was the little adjustments in the game,” said Garcia.

“Yes, we’re highly motivated and the main key was getting back on defense to stop their transition plays,” said prolific RoS import Arizona Reid as they dealt Talk n Text a third loss in 10 games.

Reid and the Elasto Painters stopped the Texters from playing their run-and-gun and held them to their season-lowest output.

Talk n Text hit at a woeful 30.9-percent clip – its worst shooting in a game under coach Chot Reyes.

Reid frolicked with 30 points and 20 rebounds as against Scottie Reynolds’ 18 points on 8-of-22 shooting.

Petron Blaze charged back from a 28-point third-quarter deficit and roared on in overtime as it upended Barangay Ginebra, 96-88, to regain a piece of second place in the nightcap.

Anthony Grundy had a near triple-double with 21 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, leading Petron to the win that forced a three-way deadlock at second among the Boosters, the Kings and the Alaska Milk Aces at 6-4.

The Elasto Painters took control practically all night, building a 20-point lead in the second quarter and enjoying a margin as huge as 25 towards the end of the game.

Jeff Chan knocked in a triple to cap a 12-2 tear, giving the Elasto Painters a 20-point spread at 52-32 with 1:30 left in the first half.

A triple by Reynolds and two free throws by Harvey Carey as against a charity by Chan narrowed the gap down to 53-37 at the turn.

The Texters shot measly 31.1 percent from the field as they were limited to their least output in a half in the conference.

Before the game, Talk n Text was the only team that had scored at least 40 points in a half in each game in the season-ending tourney.

Arizona had double-double numbers with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Ryan Arana came through with a perfect 4-of-4 shooting to lead the Elasto Painters in their domination of the Texters in the opening half.

The Elasto Painters stamped their class right in the first period while hitting at a 52.6-percent clip as against the Texters’ 32-percent shooting.

Jireh Ibanes, Ronjay Buenafe, Jervy Cruz and Beau Belga teamed up in a 10-2 roll that gave RoS its first double-digit spread at 28-18.