Rain or Shine hands Eastern's first loss

Rain or Shine handed Eastern its first loss in the PBA Commissioner's Cup, 99-81, on Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

The Elasto Painters were leading 75-68 with less than eight minutes left but pulled away after mounting a 10-0 rally to lead by 17. Rain or Shine further widened the gap and led by 23, 95-72, after a Shaun Ildefonso jumper before Ramon Cao ignited a 7-0 run for the Hong Kong based-team to cut the deficit, 95-79, with less than two minutes left.

Time was on Rain or Shine's side then as Shaun Ildefonso's free throws and Caelan Tiongson's late basket gave the Elasto Painters their first win.

Deon Thompson had 21 points and 15 rebounds in his debut, while Santi Santillan had 18 points as Rain or Shine improved to 1-1.

Cam Clark had 30 points and 12 rebounds for Eastern (2-1) who were playing without Glen Yang due to a passport issue.

Scores:

Rain or Shine 99 – Thompson 21, Santillan 18, Datu 10, Tiongson 10, Nocum 8, Ildefonso 8, Caracut 7, Belga 5, Clarito 4, Lemetti 3, Asistio 3, Demusis 2.

Eastern 81 – Claek 30, Cheung 11, Sulaiman 11, Cao 9, Blankley 7, Lam 6, Zhu 5, Guinchard 2, Chan 0, Leung 0, Pok 0, Xu 0.

Quarters : 24-18, 43-34, 70-64, 99-81.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News