Rain or Shine simply refused to go down without a fight.

The Elasto Painters took advantage of a depleted, severely banged-up and head coach Chot Reyes-less TNT to salvage Game 5 in a 113-97 blowout in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup semifinals Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.         

Gian Mamuyac sparked Rain or Shine’s strong rebound victory to trim its best-of-seven series deficit to 3-2 with a 16-point first quarter explosion before finishing with 22 points on an efficient 8-of-13 shooting from the field.

The Elasto Painters took care of business in the second half, pouring 37 points in the third period while holding down the Tropang 5G to just 12.

Rain or Shine closed the third quarter with a comfortable 93-64 advantage that even ballooned to 35 points in the final period.

“We survived another day, so we’ll still have a game on Sunday. This is the closest we’ve been to the finals. So, we look at it as a really positive development for us,” Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao said as his squad extended the series to a sixth outing after receiving the boot from the same rival in five games in the Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup semis.  

“At last, we won two games in the semis.”  

Game 6 is on Sunday at the same venue.     

Jhonard Clarito had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Elasto Painters while Adrian Nocum, Joshua Caracut and Keith Datu submitted 11 points each.

TNT played sans RR Pogoy for a third straight game due to a hamstring injury while veteran forward Kelly Williams was sidelined by a right ankle sprain he sustained in Game 4.

Making matters worse was the suspension of Reyes. He was meted a one-game ban after getting whistled with a technical foul barely five minutes in Game 4 for resentment to a call – his fifth in the conference.

League rules state that a fifth technical foul infraction in the same tournament will result to an automatic suspension.

The TNT mentor got his fourth technical in Game 3 after game officials thought was a reaction to a foul called on Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser before halftime. Reyes clarified that he was giving guard Kim Aurin a tongue-lashing and not complaining at the referees.

The Elasto Painters exploited the Tropang 5G’s personnel woes to play their usual running game, scoring 19 fastbreak points. Rain or Shine also converted TNT’s atrocious 19 errors to 28 turnover points.

Anton Asistio gave the Elasto Painters their biggest lead at 99-64 after connecting a four-pointer with 11:19 in the payoff period.

Calvin Oftana was able to suit up despite sustaining sprained ankle late in Game 4 and led TNT with 23 points, Simon Enciso had 20 markers while Glenn Khobuntin and Aurin finished with 13 each.

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE (113) --- Mamuyac 22, Clarito 19, Nocum 11, Caracut 11, Malonzo 8, Tiongson 8, Asistio 7, Santillan 7, Ildefonso 5, Porter 2, Norwood 2, Borboran 0, Escandor 0

TNT (97) --- Oftana 23, Enciso 20, Khobuntin 13, Aurin 13, Galinato 9, Vosotros 8, Ganuelas-Rosser 4, Heading 3, Erram 2, Heruela 0, Nieto 0, Varilla 0

Quarterscores: 28-24, 56-52, 93-64, 113-97