By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters survived repeated runs from Meralco Bolts for a 94-81 triumph in an exhibition game at the University of St. La Salle Gymnasium in Bacolod City on Thursday night, October 19.

Leonard Santillan tallied double-double 16 points and 12 rebounds, Jhonard Clarito and Andrei Caracut added 12 markers apiece, while Mark Borboran contributed 10 points for the Painters.

James Yap, who hails from nearby Negros Occidental’s Escalante City, made a brief appearance to start the second half and finished with five points, one rebound and one assist.

The Painters trailed early at 2-8, but back-to-back triples from Clarito and inside hits from Beau Belga gave them a 12-8 lead.

The Bolts responded with a run to take a 15-14 edge, but a late triple by Santillan gave Rain or Shine a 17-15 advantage.

The Bolts came out firing to start the second quarter as they surged to a 30-25 lead, but a counter run by the Painters from triples by rookies Keith Datu, Jr. and Sherwin Concepcion gave them a 43-30 halftime lead.

Rain or Shine’s run continued to start the third frame as back-to-back conversions from Yap followed by an inside hit from Capiznon Rey Mark Belo gave them the biggest lead at 50-30.

However, Diego Dario came alive for the Bolts with consecutive three-pointers to cut the deficit to 43-52, but conversions from Caracut and Santillan allowed the Painters to pull away at 70-59.

The Painters increased the lead to 16 on back-to-back connections from Borboran, but the Bolts threatened to rally to within seven points several times, with the last at 77-84 on a layup by Alvin Pasaol.

Rain or Shine responded with a three-point play from Santillan and inside conversions from Concepcion, Shaun Ildefonso and Datu as the lead grew to 94-79 with under a minute left.

Dario top-scored for the Bolts with 20 points, while Jansen Rios and Aaron Black added 17 and 14 markers, respectively.

Negros Occidental’s Pontevedra-native center Raymar Jose had 11 rebounds and six points for Meralco.

RAIN OR SHINE 94 — Santillan 16, Clarito 12, Caracut 12, Borboran 10, Concepcion 9, Belga 7, Belo 6, Asistio 6, Yap 5, Datu 5, Ildefonso 4, Nambatac 2, Mamuyac 0.

MERALCO 81 — Dario 20, Rios 17, Black 14, Jose 6, Pascual 6, Pasaol 5, Torres 4, Bates 4, Banchero 3, Jackson 2.

Quarterscores: 17-15, 43-30, 70-59, 94-81./ASC, WDJ