Yeng steers Painters to Game 1 triumph

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- “Allergic” to fixed match-ups but with a flair for excellent defense, Vice Governor and champion coach Joseller “Yeng” Guiao on Sunday evening led the supercharged Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to victory number one, trouncing the battered B-Meg Llamados, 91-80, to win their debut in the best of seven Governors Cup matches at the Smart Araneta Center.

Guiao, a Pampanga First District congressional aspirant and branded by his circle as the 2013 “CCC” [Champion Coach and Congressman], sent the Elasto Painters into a “rampage” all throughout the four quarters, proving he was the unbeatable “stroke artist” pushing the advantage in transition and a merciless running game that gave the Llamados very slim sights on the basket for a lead, ending the first quarter at 18-16 and the half at 35-39.

Even B-Meg coach Tim Cone seemed to have been worn-out with 7:23 left in the fourth quarter, throwing a monoblock chair into the hardcourt in protest of a lack of a foul call for a driving James Yap.

With Cone ejected, the B-Meg coaching team with Jeffrey Cariaso took over the game marked by several skirmishes, but succumbed to Guiao’s “no luck factor” tactics as RoS pulled away at 74-64.

“Everyone will find these finals games very physical. But we are prepared physically and mentally and we would have to do something about problems in rebounding,” shared Guiao, adding “I’m proud of the boys. They were able to handle the pressure in the finals and the way we played our defense in the second half.”

The Elasto Painters have beaten the Llamados twice in the elimination round and in the semifinals last Wednesday, but Cone expects a series to be a long battle.

He admitted that Rain or Shine, with its bevy of strong backcourt players and a powerful import in Jamelle Cornley, even as the team is rookie-laden, is a “tough matchup” for the Llamados.

Cornley scored 25 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, pouring in 13 points in the pivotal third quarter where RoS reclaimed the lead. Rookie Paul Lee banked in 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Gabe Norwood gave the Painters a lift with 10 points, mostly in the last quarter stretching the lead to 83-65 with 4:14 left.

Yeng’s RoS shot 51.5 percent from the field and with almost perfect defense, held B-Meg to 39.5 percent. Lee and Cornley put the finishing touches in the game, icing it respectively with a three-point shot and a tomahawk dunk.