RAIN or Shine overwhelmed Tarrafirma, 97-82, while Phoenix Super LPG humbled Converge, 89-66, in a pair of morale-boosting victories in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Andrei Caracut and Anton Asistio scored 14 points apiece and Santi Santillan added 13 points as the E-Painters posted their third straight win despite playing minus three veterans due to health and safety protocols.

Missing from the Rain or Shine bench were Beau Belga, Gabe Norwood and Mike Nieto.

But Rain or Shine coach Chris Gavina managed to squeeze out the best from his available players.

“We went through a whole month of not winning and now, three wins in a row. Lessons were kinda learned through fire and today it was a great game for a lot of our third team guys to get quality minutes and develop that next-man-up mentality for us,” said Gavina in an interview posted at the official PBA website.

The win put Rain or Shine at 4-6, the same record of Converge.

Phoenix also kept its flickering playoff hopes alive with victory over Converge.

The Fuel Mesters rode on Matthew Wright (15 points), Jason Perkins (14), Aljun Melecio (12), Tyler Tio (11) and Larry Muyang (10) to hammer out the win and improve to 3-7 overall.

The scores:

First game

Rain or Shine (97) – Caracut 14, Asistio 14, Santillan 13, Ildefonso 10, Torres 9, Ponferrada 9, Demusis 8, Nambatac 7, Mamuyac 7,Clarito 3, Borboran 2, Tolentino 1.
Terrafirma (82) – Ramos 21, Gabayni 12, Camson 11, Calvo 10, Munzon 9, Cahilig 7, Mina 7, Javelona 3, Balagasay 2, Gomez de Liano 0, Tumalip 0.
Quarterscores: 33-18, 59-33, 78-63, 97-82.

Second game

Phoenix (89) – Wright 15, Perkins 14, Melecio 12, Tio 11, Muyang 10, Jazul 6, Anthony 5, Pascual 4, Rios 3, Porter 2, Mocon 2, Lalata 2, Serrano 2, Garcia 1.
Converge (66) – Tratter 9, Hill 9, Adamos 8, Browne 7, Arana 7, Murrell 6, Tolomia 5, Ilagan 4, Ambohot 4, Ahanmisi 3, Bulanadi 2, Stockton 2, Racal 0, DiGregorio 0.
Quarterscores: 18-11, 47-20, 70-45, 89-66.