RAIN or Shine battled its way back from the depth of an early 21-point deficit to escape past Japan U-22 team, 116-91, in the 42nd Jones Cup Saturday at the Taipei Heping Gymnasium.
The Elasto Painters again fell prey to a slow start, which the Japanese capitalized to post a 42-21 lead early in the second period.
But once they found their rhythm, there was no stopping the Elasto Painters.
After trimming the deficit to just six at the break, Rain or Shine went on two separate runs to take the lead and pull away for good.
Ange Kouame and Santi Santillan presided over a 9-0 blast to make it an 83-76 edge, before welcoming the fourth period with a 16-2 run and stretched the lead to 99-78.
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Santillan went a perfect 8-of-8 from the field for a team-high 20 points as Rain or Shine won for the second time in seven outings in the penultimate day of the competition.
The Elasto Painters will take on league-leader University of Irvine for their final opponent at the close of the tournament on Sunday.
Kouame and Gian Mamuyac each had 18 points for Rain or Shine, which also got 17 from import Nick Evans, 12 from Andrei Caracut, and 11 from Anton Asistio.
Anthony Sukegawa topscored for Japan with 23 points, but was held to just five in the second half, while Hiyuu Ozawa added 19.
Rain or Shine is tied with Iran, while Japan fell to 1-6 at the bottom of the standings.
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University of Irvine also shares the top spot with Chinese Taipei-A, followed by Anyang KGC (5-1), Qatar (3-4), United Arab Emirates (3-5), and Chinese Taipei-B (2-4).(RG)
