(MENAFN- Arab News) Rain or Shine experienced and hungry found a way to gut out a win even if things weren't going its way Friday night.

The Elasto Painters minus two crack point guards to start the night and later on losing one vital defensive cog pulled out an 82-75 win over newcomer Blackwater Elite to barge into the win column in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

With Paul Lee sitting this one out because of a bruised knee and Chris Tiu out for the second straight game the Painters leaned on their experience to rally past the Elite and dodge the upset axe to rise to 1-1.

Ryan Arana later on joined Lee and Tiu in the sidelines after a slight hamstring pull in the third quarter but the Painters drew firepower from sophomore center Raymond Almazan and the trio of Gilas Pilipinas members Gabe Norwood Beau Belga and Jeff Chan to make up for a woeful shooting night.

Rain or Shine survived the Elite despite going 32-of-84 from the field overall and 0-of-25 from three-point range which is usually its strength.

'I guess people just tend to underestimate the expansion teams but they're stronger than they look' said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao. 'If you're not ready for them they can spring surprises. We're lucky to gather ourselves in time.' Also winning for the first time was Talk 'N Text which caught another rookie team NLEX on a bad night for a 103-81 victory in the first game.

Trailing for most of the game Rain or Shine started hitting its mark late in the game and handed the Elite a similarly heart-rending loss they suffered at the hands of KIA Motors in the inaugurals before close to 53000 fans at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan last Sunday.

Eddie Laure made up for a lackluster game against the Sorentos and Alex Nuyles the former Rain or Shine guard also helped in doing the damage on the Painters only for the Elite to also aid their downfall by going cold in the fourth period.

Rain or Shine which trailed 31-40 at the half matched its offensive output in the first two periods and more than doubled up on Blackwater in the fourth quarter 31-15.

'It was really our experience that bailed us out tonight' Guiao added. Meanwhile the Tropang Texters whose string of championships here was snapped by eventual Grand Slam champion San Mig Coffee now Purefoods last season played a lot better than they did earlier in the week to rebound from a season-opening loss to Barangay Ginebra.

Still licking the wounds of a 20-point blowout to the Gin Kings the Texters were a lot sharper this time and didn't give their sister squad Road Warriors a chance.

In rising to 1-1 the Texters gifted new coach Jong Uichico the first win in his head coaching comeback while dealing another returning mentor Boyet Fernandez a rude welcome.

Fernandez who won a title with defunct Sta. Lucia several years back was finally eligible to coach in the league again after guiding the San Beda Red Lions to the NCAA championship two days ago.

But the Road Warriors played with far worse form than they did in coming from behind to nip Globalport last Tuesday dropping to 1-1 like Talk 'N Text and Rain or Shine.

On Saturday the Gin Kings and KIA battle for the early lead in a road game slated in Lucena City. That game is slated at 5 p.m.