RAIN or Shine gained the distinction as the team to hand Eastern its first defeat in its PBA campaign.
The Elasto Painters defended home turf, warding off the guest team from Hong Kong, 99-81, on a big closing salvo and dealing them their first loss after a 2-0 start in the PBA Commissioner's Cup.
Leonard Santillan and Keith Datu sparked ROS' breakaway from a slim one-point lead en route to breaking into the win-column after a losing conference debut against the Meralco Bolts.
Santillan scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth while Datu put in seven of his 10 in the same frame as the Elasto Painters got the job done on Deon Thompson's PBA debut.
Also a highlight of the Elasto Painters' first win in the midseason tourney was Beau Belga scoring five points to hit the league's 5,000-point plateau. The league's seventh choice in the 2008 draft exercise was the 98th player - the 93rd local - to reach the milestone.
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Thompson fired 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds aside from being a solid defensive presence, drawing good words from coach Yeng Guiao.
"We're happy with the way he performed. He was late coming in. Wala pa siyang isang linggo, but he changed our chemistry for the better. Mas maganda ang ikot ng bola namin sa kanya," said Guiao.
"He's got the inside game and the outside game. Medyo malas pa sa labas. Pag lumabas tunay na laro, mas magiging problema siya ng ibang team," Guiao added.
Guiao also noted their good defense, holding the best three-point shooting team to a 7-of-20 clip. And the Elasto Painters shot better, draining four treys in their fourth-quarter breakaway alone.
"Pumasok ang three-point shooting namin ngayon. Mas madaling Manalo kung pumapasok ang three-point shooting," said Guiao.
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Another break for Rain or Shine was premier Eastern playmaker Glenn Yang unable to play due to passport problem. But he's good to go for their next game opposite TNT on Friday.
Cameron Clark poured in 30 points on top of 12 rebounds against the Elasto Painters and his former coach at NLEX.
Ying Lung Cheung and Sheik Muhammad Sulaiman added 11 each.(SB)
The Scores :
RAIN OR SHINE 99 - Thompson 21, Santillan 18, Datu 10, Tiongson 10, Nocum 8, Ildefonso 8, Caracut 7, Belga 5, Clarito 4, Lemetti 3, Asistio 3, Demnusis 2.
EASTERN 81 - Claek 30, Cheung 11, Sulaiman 11, Cao 9, Blankley 7, Lam 6, Zhu 5, Guinchard 2, Chan 0, Leung 0, Pok 0, Xu 0.
QUARTERS : 24-18, 43-34, 70-64, 99-81
