Leonard Santillan (middle) and Rain or Shine were stretched to their limits by Terrafirma. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Rain or Shine had to dig a little deeper on Sunday night just to fend off a lowly Terrafirma side, 124-112, in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

But coach Yeng Guiao would rather frame the outing as an exercise in pace and sustaining effort.

“We’ve talked about it earlier: That if we don’t start well—which we did not—they will hang on and keep on threatening us. That’s exactly what happened,” the fiery mentor said after the hard-earned win at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

“I knew that if we weren’t able to shake them off early, they will fight,” he added of the Dyip. “There’s no pressure for them [at this point], as everything to them now is just a bonus.”

Guiao said that the game’s value was in how the Elasto Painters finished it.

Sitting at wooden benches, men and women stack tobacco leaves in one hand –- the components must be dry but soft, like the velvety texture of leather.

“It’s this kind of [tight] games and the way you close it that become lessons that we could use in the future,” he said.

“Remember the Magnolia game? We were up double digits and then they responded,” he said. “But we were still able to get back. I saw that as a good sign and as a positive development. Instead of lashing out for squandering an early lead, I feel like it was just the way it is—that things like this happen in the PBA.

“There are no weak teams if you’re too relaxed and you don’t have the right mental approach to the game,” Guiao went on.

Behind import, Deon Thompson’s 23 points and 17 rebounds and Adrian Nocum’s 21 and seven, Rain or Shine overhauled a 12-point deficit and completed a comeback that gave the franchise its fourth win in five meetings as the Painters stayed in second behind NorthPort while being the only side that has a win streak going.

“We had a strong end game. It was the finish, really. We played around matchups,” Guiao said. “We had stops that we needed at a crucial time and we got into our transition [game just in time]. I’m just relieved we were able to do all that at the right time.”

Andrei Caracut chipped in 15 points, 13 of which coming in the third period that greased Rain or Shine’s comeback and the subsequent pull away in the final frame that also doomed Terrafirma to its seventh loss in as many games.

“We’re about to have a Christmas dinner also. So I’m just glad that the mood wasn’t going to change. Or else we won’t be able to eat well,” Guiao said with a smirk.

Meanwhile, league chief Willie Marcial revealed that the PBA has yet to be notified about the Games and Amusements Board’s reported decision to revoke the license of embattled NorthPort guard John Amores.

“I haven’t received any official communication. We’ll probably know more tomorrow when it’s the weekdays again,” he said of the development which came nearly three months after the Batang Pier sophomore’s involvement in a shooting incident in Laguna.

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Amores was charged with attempted homicide after figuring in an altercation following a pickup game in Lumban last September. The league has since suspended him without pay for the entirety of the Commissioner’s Cup and has tasked him to undergo counseling—one of the several conditions contingent on his return to the PBA. INQkawbet