By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Rain or Shine Elastopainters got hot at the perfect time in the ongoing 2022 PBA Philippine Cup season and increased their chances of another post-season run after demolishing the Terrafirma Dyip, 97-82.
It was a convincing win for the rejuvenated Rain or Shine team despite missing their key veteran duo of Gabe Norwood and Beau Belga including star sophomore Mike Nieto after the league placed them under the health and safety protocols.
From the get-go, it was Rain or Shine that dominated the ball game as their young guns went to work and embarrassed the Terrafirma defense with their efficient shooting from the field.
Rain or Shine’s rookie draft pick Shaun Ildefonso was a revelation during the game and put up a stellar performance after filling up the stat sheet with 10 points, five rebounds, and nine assists.
Ildefonso showed an all-around offensive game and drained two big three-pointers, an asset in his game that is continuing to improve after being known as a defensive maestro and a slasher.
The Elastopainters extended their biggest lead of the ball game at 30 points but another ferocious comeback from Terrafirma cut the deficit to just 11 points.
However, Rain or Shine countered with their own offensive run and shut down any comeback attempts from the winless Terrafirma team.
Andrei Caracut and Anton Asistio shot the lights out for Rain or Shine and carried the offensive load with 14 markers each while savvy big man Leonard Santillan chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds.
It was a vintage performance for Terrafirma’s Aldrech Ramos after putting up 21 points on top of nine rebounds and seven assists but was not enough to give his team their first win of the season.
“The whole month of not winning and now three wins in a row, lessons are kinda learned through the fire. Today was a great game for our third-team guys to get a lot of quality minutes and develop that next-man-up mentality for us so we’re extremely happy to be in the position we’re in,” said Rain or Shine head coach Chris Gavina.
