Santi Santillan unloaded 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter as Rain or Shine avoided collapse and defeated Terrafirma, 106-91, on Friday to regain a piece of top spot in the PBA Philippine Cup at Ynares Center in Antipolo City. His scoring barrage enabled the Elasto Painters to come away with a fourth win in five games and tie the NLEX Road Warriors and TNT Tropang 5G atop the team standings.
Rain or Shine staved off Terrafirma, which rallied from 15 down and even took a three-point lead twice in the third.
Terrafirma dropped to 1-4, joining Titan Ultra at the bottom of the table. Santillan made six of seven shots, highlighted by four triples in the final canto as Rain or Shine pulled away to win its third straight outing.
Felix Pangilinan-Lemetti added 11 points plus six assists to also play a key role for coach Yeng Guiao’s side even as Keith Datu posted 12 points and six rebounds.
Jhonard Clarito tallied 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals and Adrian Nocum chipped in 10.
Jerrick Ahanmisi scored 25 points and Paolo Hernandez hit 20 for Terrafirma in another loss, its third in a row since an upset win over NLEX.