RAIN or Shine continued its impressive performance in the PBA Philippine Cup, beating skidding NorthPort, 115-105, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Veteran Beau Belga was again the man of the hour for the Elasto Painters as he finished with a career-high 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting, 13 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in 38 minutes of action.

Belga struck hardest in the first half when he scored 10 points.

Jhonard Clarito added 17 points and seven rebounds, Adrian Nocum contributed 16 points and Mark Borboran had 12 points for the Yeng Guiao- mentored E-Painters, who led by as many as 22 points (40-18) on the way to their fifth straight win following a 0-4 start.

“I think primarily this win is because we had a good start,” said Guiao in an interview posted at the official PBA website.

“Nu’ng first (half) lumamang kami ng 22. From there magkaka-streak sila, makakabalik kami, naalagaan na namin. But if it were not for that good start talagang makikipag-kayuran ka hanggang huli ” added Guiao.

Zavier Lucero carried the fight for the Batang Pier with a career-high 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting on top of seven rebounds in nearly 30 minutes.

Allyn Bulanadi came off the bench to contribute 26 points, followed by Kris Rosales with 12 points and Arvin Tolentino with 11 points.

The loss — the third in a row — dropped the Batang Pier of coach Bonnie Tan to 4-4.

Joshua Munzon, another NothPort gunner, was limited to only six points on 2-of-6 shooting in 21 minutes.

The scores:

Rain or Shine (115) — Belga 28, Clarito 17, Nocum 16, Borboran 12, Caracut 8, Asistio 7, Mamuyac 6, Santillan 5, Ildefonso 5, Belo 5, Demusis 4, Paredes 2.
NorthPort (105)– Lucero 29, Bulanadi 26, Rosales 12, Tolentino 11, Flores 9, Amores 8, Munzon 6, Navarro 4, Paraiso 0, Yu 0, Zamar 0, Cuntapay 0, Adamos 0
Quarterscores: 24-14, 48-38, 81-72, 115-105.

Games Friday:

(Philsports Arena)
4:30 p.m. — Converge vs. San Miguel
7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs. TNT