E-Painters bust Express run

MANILA, Philippines - Jamelle Cornley and his teammates continued to dish out fine form, enabling Rain or Shine to match its best start in a tourney following a 106-92 romp over Air21 in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Cornley and the RoS locals played a well-balanced game, negating Zach Graham’s highly productive performance as the Elasto Painters got past the Express and stayed unscathed after three games in the season-ending tourney.

Rain or Shine has a chance to post a first-ever 4-0 start in a tourney when it tangles with Barangay Ginebra Wednesday, also at the Big Dome.

The Elasto Painters had their first 3-0 conference start in the 2011 Commissioner’s Cup – their first tournament under coach Yeng Guiao.

“This is exactly what we prepared for. So far, everything is falling into place,” said Guiao.

“We’re playing the kind of game that we want – balanced scoring, good ball movement and switching on defense,” Guiao added.

The Elasto Painters did those things as they dominated the Express and put to naught Graham’s huge numbers of 37 points and 20 rebounds.

Though still unhealthy, Talk n Text found a way to keep its streak versus archrival Petron Blaze in their head-on battles, pulling off a mind-boggling 102-87 victory in the nightcap.

The Texters made it 5-0 over the Boosters since their amazing rally from 1-3 down in their best-of-seven semifinal showdown in the Philippine Cup.

NOTES: Powerade shows up with a new import in Omar Shriff Sneed as the Tigers try to check a two-game slump when they take on the Alaska Milk Aces tomorrow. Sneed, taking over from Rashad McCants, is an elite product of University of Memphis with his exposure to international play in Belgium, the Netherlands and Venezuela. The Texas native suited up with the Houston Rockets in the 2001 Rocky Mountain Summer League after finishing his collegiate career as Memphis’ 29th all-time leading scorer with 1,072 points though playing only two seasons.

The scores:

First Game

Rain or Shine 106 – Cornley 21, Chan 16, Norwood 13, Buenafe 11, Lee 9, Cruz 9, Arana 8, Ibañes 8, Matias 4, Tang 3, Belga 2, Quinahan 2.

Air21 92 – Graham 37, Hubalde 10, Ritualo 9, Espiritu 8, Menor 8, Omolon 8, Sena 6, Bagatsing 2, Faundo 2, Isip 2, Salamat 0, Sison 0, Escobal 0.

Quarterscores: 23-22, 53-46, 84-68, 106-92

Second Game

Talk n Text 102 – Harris 27, De Ocampo 23, Dillinger 15, Aguilar 10, Williams 9, Peek 7, Reyes 5, Fonacier 3, Alapag 3, Raymundo 0, Aban 0.

Petron 87 – Basden 19, Lutz 19, Cabagnot 15, Santos 12, Ildefonso 6, Lanete 4, Washington 4, Peña 4, Yeo 3, Miranda 1, Reyes 0.

Quarterscores: 30-21, 46-41, 76-64, 102-87