Rain or Shine halts Alaska’s 5-game run

Rain or Shine played catch-up in the first three quarters but revved up in the final period en route to posting a, 101-93 victory against the Alaska Aces last night in the 38th PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Painters thus snapped the Aces’ five-game win streak and in the process took sole possession of second place with their sixth win in eight games.

Alaska dropped to fourth place with a 5-3 (win-loss) card. The Aces will try to bounce back from the loss when they play the San Mig Coffee Mixers (5-2) on Saturday at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City.

Cebuano big man JR Quiñahan played solid for the Painters, finishing with 20 points and seven rebounds. The former University of the Visayas stalwart went into the game averaging just seven points per outing.

It was Quiñahan who kept the Painters in the game when the Aces played a near flawless game in the first three periods.

The only time that the Painters led in the first three stanzas was at 10-9. Alaska led by as many as 10 points with its last double-digit spread coming at the 9:13 mark of the third, 57-47.

Alaska was still ahead going into the final quarter, 77-71, but Rain or Shine turned to Jeff Chan to take control of the match.

The lefty shooter Chan played like a man possessed in a crucial stretch of the fourth. He started his rampage with a three-pointer that put the Painters on top, 80-79. He would score seven straight points after that as the Painters built an 87-84 lead in the final 6:59.

A jumper by Quiñahan made it 89-84 and the Painters took control from there.

Chan ended up scoring a game-high 22 points, 12 coming in the pivotal fourth,

Dismal endgame defense did the Aces in as they allowed the Painters to score a whopping 30 points in the fourth while failing to get their offense going and produced just 16 points in the decisive period.

Alaska’s energetic rookie Calvin Abueva was held down to just seven points after averaging 15.3 points a game.

Meanwhile, the struggling Barangay Ginebra Kings shored up their frontline by acquiring six-foot-seven rookie Yousef Taha from the Air21 Express in exchange for veteran point guard Mike Cortez.

The Kings (2-5) tweaked their lineup amid their current struggle as they have lost their last five games to fall 2-5. Air21 also has the same slate.

BOX SCORES

Rain or Shine (101) – Chan 22, Quiñahan 20, Araña 13, Rodriguez 12, Norwood 9, Matias 8, Belga 7, Tang 4, Ibañes 4, Cruz 2

Alaska (93) – Casio 16, Baguio 16, Espinas 13, Baracael 9, Dela Cruz 8, Hontiveros 8, Abueva 7, Jazul 6, Thoss 4, Laure 4, Eman 2, Reyes 0.QUARTERSCORES: 22-25, 43-47, 71-77, 101-93