MAKE it five straight wins for Rain or Shine.

Led by the trio of Deon Thompson, Adrian Nocum and Santi Santillan, the Elasto Painters took control of the game early enroute to a 122-106 win over Blackwater Elite in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Philsports Arena.

Thompson scored 10 of his 25 points in the first quarter as the E-Painters established a commanding 23-point lead, 39-16, before holding off the Bossing’s comeback.

Thompson also had 16 rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes of play.

Nocum added 22 points and five rebounds, while Santillan contributed 20 points, four assists and four rebounds for the Yeng Guiao-mentored Elasto Painters, whose lone defeat came at the hands of Meralco when they played without an import.

Anton Asistio had 18 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

George King led the losing effort of the Bossing with 35 points on 7-of-20, 12 rebounds and four assists in 41 minutes of action.

Mike Ayonayon added 11 points while Justin Chua and Christian David chipped in 10 points each.

Last Tuesday, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson delivered two crucial free throws as TNT Tropang Giga held off Meralco Bolts, 101-99.

Hollis-Jefferson and Calvin Oftana both tallied 24 points, to propel the Tropang Giga to fifth place with a 3-2 win-record.

Rey Nambatac and RR Pogoy added 15 and 12 points, respectively.

Hollis-Jefferson added 13 rebounds.

Akil Mitchell posted an all-around game of 24 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals in a losing effort for Meralco, which slipped to seventh place at 4-3.

Chris Newsome added 19 points, Chris Bancherocontributed 14 and Bong Quinto had 12 for the Bolts.

Hollis-Jefferson went 2-for-2 after getting fouled by Mitchell with 10 seconds remaining for the marginal baskets.

The versatile forward accounted for the Tropang Giga’s final seven points in the last 1:39, beginning with an assist on RR Pogoy’s game-tying three-pointer at 97-all. He followed it with a go-ahead layup at the 1:11 mark, giving TNT a 99-97 lead.

Chris Banchero managed to equalize for Meralco at 99-all with 59 seconds left, but the Bolts failed to regain control.

After Mitchell missed a crucial attempt , he fouled Hollis-Jefferson.

With the Bolts’ defense smothering Newsome, Cliff Hodge was forced to attempt a contested three-pointer.

The scores:

Rain or Shine Shine (122) – Thompson 25, Nocum 22, Santillan 20, Asistio 18, Tiongson 11, Clarito 9, Demusis 8, Caracut 6, Ildefonso 1, Belga 0, Norwood 0, Lemetti 0, Escandor 0.
Blackwater (106) – King 35, Ayonayon 11, David 10, Chua 10, Escoto 9, Ponferrada 6, Suerte 6, Kwekuteye 5, Jopia 5, Hill 4, Casio 3, Corteza 2, Guinto 0
Quarterscores: 39-25, 56-47, 94-79, 122-106.

Games Friday:

(Ninoy Aquino Stadium)
5 p.m. — Terrafirma vs. Magnolia
7:30 p.m. –NLEX vs. Meralco

AUTHOR PROFILE

Robert Andaya