MANILA – Rain or Shine dominated crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra, 100-90, on Sunday night to take the first outright semifinals slot in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Elasto Painters jumped the gun on the Gin Kings and never looked back enroute to their ninth win in 11 games that put them on top of the ladder.
”The guys really wanted this win. This is our best chance of making the semis. W don’t like going the long way. That’s a risky proposition,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said in a post game interview.
Guiao’s wards started the game with an 18-9 lead and never relinquished, leading by as much as 23 points, 80-57.
Beau Belga spearheaded Rain or Shine with 21 points with Paul Lee adding 18.
Billy Mamaril, Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar fired 14 points apiece to pace Ginebra, which slipped to 6-5.
In the first game, NLEX defeated Kia, 88-80, to finish the elimination with 4-7 win-loss card.
The Kia Sorento wrapped up their first conference in the league with only one win to show in 11 games.
The scores (first game):
NLEX 88 – Taulava 19, Canaleta 16, Ramos 11, Villanueva E. 10, Cardona 7, Villanueva J. 7, Borboran 6, Baloria 4, Camson 3, Arboleda H. 3, Lingganay 2, Raymundo 0, Apinan 0, Arboleda W. 0.
KIA 80 – Cervantes 34, Buensuceso 18, Bagatsing 11, Custodio 5, Thiele 3, Burtscher 3, Poligrates 2, Revilla 2, Pascual 2, Ighalo 0, Dehesa 0, Webb 0, Alvarez 0, Bartolo 0.
Quarterscores: 21-25, 40-42, 62-57, 88-80
The socres (second game):
RAIN OR SHINE 100 – Belga 21, Lee 18, Chan 11, Quinahan 11, Ibanes 9, Uyloan 8, Norwood 8, Cruz Jervy 4, Tiu 3, Arana 3, Cruz Jericho 2, Almazan 2, Tang 0.
GINEBRA 90 – Tenorio 14, Slaughter 14, Aguilar 14, Caguioa 10, Mamaril 9, Yeo 9, Reyes 7, Baracael 6, Forrester 5, Brondial 2, Monfort 0, Helterbrand 0.
Quarterscores: 36-22, 55-41, 84-71, 100-90.