MANILA – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters weathered numerous fightbacks by Hong Kong Eastern to score a 99-81 victory in the 2024-25 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
Leonard Santillan finished with 18 points, including three outside conversions, to go with five rebounds, one assist, and a steal to be named Player of the Game as the Painters improved to a 1-1 win-loss slate.
“Sabi nga ni coach (Yeng Guiao) sa amin na very crucial ‘yung depensa namin and ‘yung offensive rebounding, and maganda rin ‘yung naging outside shooting namin in this game,” Santillan said in a post-game interview.
Deon Thompson spearheaded the Painters’ offense with 21 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, and three steals while Keith Datu and Caelan Tiongson ended with 10 markers apiece.
“We really played a good defense against a bigger team, I think ‘yung ang crucial. I think this is the best three-point shooting team, dun sa dalawang nilaro nila ang taas ng three-point percentage nila,” Guiao said.
“So ‘yun ‘yung naging unang concern namin, ‘yung mapababa ‘yung three-point shooting nila, so ayun minsan may magandang laro, minsan may panget. Ito maganda ‘yung laro namin kasi pumasok ‘yung mga three-pointers namin,” he added.
After leading by double digits for most part of the opening half, the Painters saw their lead cut to a single basket by a furious HK Eastern uprising midway through the third quarter.
The Painters, however, restored order in the fourth quarter with Santillan and Datu converting their outside shots as the lead grew to as high as 23 points at 95-72 late in the game.
Cameron Clark finished with a double-double of 30 points and 12 rebounds, while Yin Lung Cheung and Sheik Muhammad Sulaiman ended with 11 apiece as HK Eastern dropped to 2-1./PN
BOX SCORE:
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.
Quarterscores: 24-18, 43-34, 70-64, 99-81.
