RoS honors fallen ‘44’, fells NLEX

MANILA, Philippines - Rain or Shine honored the fallen men of SAF by wearing patches with the number ‘44’ and went on to put up a solid game that felled the Road Warriors of NLEX, 96-91, in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Elasto Painters got back on track after dropping their conference debut to the Talk n Text Tropang Texters, 86-89, last Wednesday and drew some inspiration from the courage displayed by the Special Action Force (SAF)members in the Maguindanao carnage.

“We want to pay tribute to the 44 lives that perished in the unfortunate incident. We’re not protesting. We’re just sympathizing with the families and we want to give due importance to their sacrifice on our own little way,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, who with his staff, wore with black arm band in the game.

“I made the suggestion to our bosses (Raymond Yu and Terry Que) and they readily agreed on the idea,” Guiao also said.

Paul Lee and import Richard Jackson made the biggest damage as the Elasto Painters smothered the Road Warriors in their first game in the mid-season tourney.

Lee came off the bench and took over the game at the finish, scoring eight of his 25 points in the last three minutes.

Jackson provided tough inside presence, coming through with 20 rebounds and 17 points, while Jonathan Uyloan helped with two big three-pointers entering the homestretch as the E-Painters spoiled the PBA debut of six-year NBA veteran Al Thornton.

Thornton put up 28 points and 12 rebounds against three errors.

Guiao lauded their gunners who fired 10 three-pointers as against NLEX’s six.

“With Asi Taulava and Al Thornton giving us problem, our little guys got open for the three-pointers,” said Guiao.

“Our import struggled a bit offensively, but he’s there for defense and to get the rebounds,” Guiao also said.

Before giving way to Daniel Orton, Marqus Blakely helped Purefoods Star to a second straight win, with the Hotshots humbling the Alaska Milk Aces, 108-88, in a duel of the last two Commissioner’s Cup champs later in the night.

With Orton in the gallery, Blakely showed how PBA imports should play, logging another solid all-around performance with 17 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and three steals against one error.

“Orton joins us in practice (today). Whoever we play Friday (against Blackwater) is not a slam dunk. We may play Marqus one more game. If Orton picks up our stuffs right away, he’ll already play for us Friday,” said Purefoods coach Tim Cone.

With the Road Warriors trying to turn the game around at endgame, Lee delivered the lethal baskets for the E-Painters.

The FIBA World Cup veteran faked off Asi Taulava and drained a runner, then drove strong off Mark Borboran as Rain or Shine made it 94-89 with 20.7 ticks to go.

After NLEX made it a one-possession game for the last time on an undergoal stab by Taulava, Lee answered with two charities to eventually seal their win.

  Meanwhile, Talk n Text and Meralco, both off to a strong 2-0 start, fight for the early solo lead as they face off tonight also at the Big Dome.

Tip-off is at 7 p.m. in the contest that will feature an exciting showdown between reigning Commissioner’s Cup Best Import Richard Howell and Meralco’s prized catch Josh Davis.

Both imports showed the way as their teams won their first two games.

Against Rain or Shine and Blackwater, Howell saved his best for last, leading the Texters to an 89-86 decision over the Elasto Painters then to an 88-78 whipping of the Elite.

Meanwhile, Davis more than held his own against Ginebra’s Mike Dunigan then stood his ground against Kia giant import Peter John Ramos to also lead the Bolts to back-to-back victories.

Davis averaged 22 points and 21.5 points in those games.