THE Rain or Shine Elasto Painters got back on winning track and in the process bolstered their playoff push as they mangled the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 109-99, in the 49th PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday night, May 28.

Recovering from a 103-111 loss to the TNT Tropang 5G, the Elasto Painters drew a solid outing from Adrian Nocum, who waxed hot from the field to finsih with a career-high 30 points.

Nocum shot just 3-of-12 in the blowout loss to TNT but was on target against Phoenix that saw him shoot 10-of-20 from the field and 9-for-13 from charity stripe.

With the win, Rain or Shine broke free from a two-way tie at sixth place with TNT as it improved to 5-3 (win-loss). Another win could already send Rain or Shine to the quarterfinals. First to advance to the quarters are Magnolia (7-1), San Miguel Beer (6-2), NLEX (6-2), and Converge (6-5).

Jhonard Clarito, Caelan Tiongson, and Leonard Santillan provided Nocum the much-needed help.

Clarito piled up 20 points and 10 rebounds, Tiongson put in 14 points and Santillan contributed 12 markers.

Ken Tuffin, Rafael Verano, Tyler Tio, RJ Jazul, and Jason Perkins all scored in double figures but Phoenix still could not pull through, tasting their sixth defeat against a pair of victories.

THE SCORES:

RAIN OR SHINE (109) - Nocum 30, Clarito 20, Tiongson 14, Santillan 12, Caracut 8, Mamuyac 6, Asistio 5, Lemetti 4, Ildefonso 3, Norwood 3, Datu 2, Malonzo 2, Borboran 0.

PHOENIX (99) - Tuffin 15, Verano 14, Tio 14, Jazul 11, Perkins 10, Garcia 8, Ballungay 8, Camacho 6, Daves 5, Manganti 3, Cullar 3, Soyud 2, Alejandro 0, Ular 0.QUARTERSCORES: 30-25, 57-43, 90-75, 109-99.(CCM)

• Tags
• #PBA Philippine Cup
• #Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
• #Phoenix Fuel Masters
• #TNT Tropang 5G
• #Adrian Nocum