THE Rain or Shine Elastopainters padded their push for a top-two finish in the elimination round of the PBA Philippine Cup, beating the Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters, 97-82, in their opening encounter at the Smart Araneta Coliseum yesterday.

Standing tough in the face of a resilient challenge from Phoenix, Rain or Shine fortified its hold of the second spot in the standings of the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) conference with the win.

AFTER a 10-day break from live action, the defending PBA Philippine Cup champions San Miguel Beermen return, battling the Meralco Bolts in the main game of the final playdate in 2016 of the league today at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

Set for 7 p.m., the Beermen (4-1), who was last seen in action in an out-of-town game against the NLEX Road Warriors in Cagayan de Oro on Dec. 17, will try to maintain their winning ways and keep hold of the top spot in the standings while adding to the struggles of the Bolts (2-3), losers of their last two assignments.

WANG'S  Ballclub is bringing in multi-titled coach Loreto “Ato” Tolentino to  bolster its chances in  the coming 2017 PBA Developmental  League.

Tolentino, one of the countrys most successful coaches in the  collegiate  scene,  will join  the coaching  staff as its  chief consultant in  the tournament  which kicks off on Jan. 17.

Tolentino, now 70,  will sit on  the bench alongside team  owner-manager   Alex Wang  and coach  Pablo Lucas.

THE Rain or Shine Elastopainters play their former coach Yeng Guiao and the NLEX Road Warriors in the PBA Philippine Cup main game today set for 7 p.m. at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

It will mark the first time that the E-Painters will face their erstwhile head bench tactician after Mr. Guiao left the team to take the helm over at NLEX.

For Rain or Shine, their debut match against Mr. Guiao will be an emotional game and they are expecting it to be a big challenge since the veteran coach is “familiar” with the kind of system it runs.

Meralco coach Norman Black offered no excuses following his side’s 101-86 loss to San Miguel on Wednesday.

“Bad game. That’s all I can really tell you. We got off to a horrible start. We couldn’t defend the perimeter. We couldn’t defend the paint. We got down by 30,” he said.

Taking advantage of his familiarity of the court, Jonathan Grey gave Meralco the lift it badly needed on Wednesday.

Returning to the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan, the same floor where he made his lore in St. Benilde in the NCAA, the 24-year-old had himself going, unleashing 20 of his 24 points in the second half.

WHAT seemingly was a lost cause for the Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters yesterday proved otherwise as they rallied back from 26 points down to pull the rug from under the GlobalPort Batang Pier, 101-99, to nail their second straight win in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Left for dead after being buried by 26 markers early in the fourth period, Phoenix rose as the quarter progressed, behind the efforts of Mark Borboran and Cyrus Baguio, to turn things around en route to the win, their second straight in the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) tournament to take its record to 4-3 for joint fourth place.

CURRENTLY at solo second place in the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup, GlobalPort Batang Pier try to go a notch higher and claim a share of the top spot as they take on Blackwater Elite in league action today at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan City.

Set for 7 p.m., the Batang Pier (3-1) are out to win back-to-back after tumbling previously while also tying defending champions San Miguel Beermen (4-1) for early leadership in the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) tournament.

Leading GlobalPort in the Philippine Cup is All-Star guard Terrence Romeo, who has his guns blazing with an average of 27 points per game to go along with five assists and 1.75 steals.