ROS paints town Red

MANILA, Philippines — Another sunny day for Rain or Shine.

Already in their groove after a horrendous 0-4 start, the resurgent Elasto Painters rolled past Terrafirma, 116-104, to make it four in a row in the PBA Philippine Cup yesterday at the Caloocan Sports Complex.

Veteran big Beau Belga and young playmaker Andrei Caracut served as the catalysts as ROS, clad in its retro “Welcoat Dragons” jersey, asserted itself in the third quarter and kept control all the way through en route to reaching the .500 mark for the first time.

While boosting their quarterfinal drive at 4-4, the E-Painters sent the Dyip reeling and jumped ahead of their prey (4-5) at fifth spot.

Belga, fresh from his first triple-double feat nine days before, produced a comprehensive 19-point, seven-rebound, eight-assist line while Caracut submitted a double-double mark of 17 points and 10 assists that went with five rebounds.

The two combined for nine triples, dropping them during the initial breakaway and then in the counter-assault that restored a 105-93 cushion after the Dyip clawed to within 92-89 early in the fourth.

Though the main sparks were Caracut and Belga, coach Yeng Guiao also drew equally important contributions from several others in this follow-up to previous wins over Phoenix (100-85), Converge (90-85) and Blackwater (110-103).

Jhonard Clarito shot 16 with eight boards, Leonard Santillan made 15-9, Mark Borboran had 13, Mac Belo chipped in 11 and Gian Mamuyac added 10 to help ROS’ cause.

The E-Painters finished with a whopping 40 assists.

Over in Candon, Ilocos Sur, Calvin Oftana fired a career-high-tying 37 to lead TNT to a 104-101 thriller over NLEX. The Tropang Giga improved to 4-3 while stopping the four-game run of the Road Warriors (5-2).