Arizona Reid had another good scoring game and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters made it two wins in row by blasting the Air21 Express, 116-94, yesterday in the 36th PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Reid scored a game-high 24 points, a good follow up to his stellar outing in the Painters’ 95-82 win over the Derby Ace Llamados last Saturday in Tacloban City. Reid scored 36 points and collared 17 rebounds in that victory.
Prior to the match, Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao stressed the importance of jumping to a 2-0 start since the tournament will have a short elimination round.
Tournament format states that the nine competing teams will play eight games each in the initial round. The number seven to nine teams will be eliminated while the six remaining teams will advance to the semifinal round.
The teams’ records in the elimination round will be carried over to the semifinals, where they will play in a single round robin format.
The top two teams after the semis will advance to the finals. Also, a team that wins four of the five semifinal games will automatically earn a championship berth.
The Painters had an easy time collecting another win as their locals contributed big.
Big man Beau Belga was named Best Player of the Game by scoring 18 points and 7-for-10 shooting from the field. He also added nine rebounds.
Jeffrie Chand contributed 15 points, Ronjay Buenafe scored 13, Gabe Norwood tallied 12 and Ryan Araña was the fifth Rain or Shine local to score in twin digits with 11.
Alpha Bangura spearheaded the Express with 20 points, while Danny Seigle, Dondon Hontiveros and Carlo Sharma added 19, 12 and 10 points, respectively.
KG Canaleta marked his return to the Express with an eight-point performance.
Air21 got Canaleta and Jondan Salvador from the Llamados in exchange for Joe Devance, whom the Express got in a separate trade with the Alaska Aces.