E-Painters smother Clickers minus Yeng

 MANILA, Philippines - Coach Yeng Guiao was ejected from the game on technical fouls even before the half but it didn’t stop rampaging Rain or Shine from fashioning out a third straight blowout victory, clobbering Shopinas.com, 96-75, in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Guiao’s exit with 3:12 left in the second quarter seemed to even fire up the Elasto Painters, pulling away from a close 36-34 count en route to the 21-point romp coming after their 36-point rout of Alaska Milk on Oct. 23 and a 44-point bashing of Meralco Sunday.

The Elasto Painters thus firmed up their hold of the lead with a 6-1 win-loss card while handing the Clickers their seventh straight loss.

“We’re overachieving. We didn’t think that we could be on top at this point. What we only thought was that we could give any team a good game,” said Guiao.

“We’re on top and we’re playing well. Hopefully, it continues. But in the PBA, if you let your guard down, you easily lose that gain. We’ll work to stay sharp and aggressive, and see how far it takes us,” Guiao added.

The volatile Rain or Shine mentor expressed remorse he was not able to coach the final half.

Meralco played hard on both ends throughout against Barangay Ginebra and bounced back from a blowout the last time out with a 93-87 win in the nightcap.

“It’s just so nice to win after such a humbling defeat. It’s a great feeling hurdling such an obstacle as Ginebra,” said Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio as they rebounded from their 44-point blowout by Rain or Shine Sunday.

 “It’s unfortunate but I did something wrong and I had to pay for it,” said Guiao, thrown out of the game after committing a second technical infraction by shoving Shopinas player Ogie Menor for taunting the Rain or Shine team right on their bench.

Curiously, Menor was just slapped a fine of P3,000 by commissioner Chito Salud for an unsportsmanlike conduct in their last game versus B-Meg.

Both Guiao and Menor were issued a technical foul. Guiao was ejected as he committed an earlier technical infraction.