By Adrian Stewart Co

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters continued their strong start in the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup after an 85-72 manhandling of the shorthanded Alaska Aces last night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Rey Nambatac led the way with 12 points for the Painters, while Beau Belga and Raymond Almazan added 11 and 10, respectively.

From a seesaw battle in the opening round, Rain or Shine broke a 12-12 score with baskets from Dexter Maiquez, Almazan, and Nambatac for a 25-14 advantage.

The Painters widened the lead to 38-22 early in the second on five straight points from Belga.

While the Aces rallied to within 11, the Painters eventually pulled away anew behind Norbert Torres and Nambatac for its largest lead of 55-33.

The Aces responded with a rally to come to as close as 51-64 but the Painters quickly recovered with baskets from Belga and James Yap for an 85-67 advantage./ASC, WDJ