RAIN OR SHINE SECURES FINAL 4 SPOT
On a big steal by Jeff Chan at the finish, top seed Rain or Shine took one game to dispose of dangerous rival Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and secure a spot in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Final Four at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Saturday night.
Chan stole off Mike Dunigan and scored on a breakaway layup with 4.9 ticks to go as the Elasto Painters squeezed out a 92-91 win over the Gin Kings to advance to the best-of-five semifinals versus the winner of the Meralco-NLEX quarters matchup.
One-zero up in a best-of-three duel, the Bolts go for the killer blow versus the Road Warriors in Game Two at 5:15 p.m. Sunday over at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Seizing control in the final half, the Kings were wrapping up the game in the closing seconds when Chan pulled the heist off Dunigan then dealt Ginebra and its throng a heart-breaker.
“Swerte lang. We got lucky,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.
“Ginebra was never a light assignment. It didn’t feel like we had an advantage against them. I’m glad it’s over,” Guiao also said.
“It’s a good time for Jeff to come out with that. He was shooting very badly and we were waiting for his shooting to come back,” Guiao added.
Chan nailed two three-pointers, hit at a 6-of-12 shooting clip and ended as one of three Rain or Shine players delivering a team-high 17 points.
Raymond Almazan and Wayne Chism also fired 17 points and, with Chan, carried the team back from a nine-point deficit, 63-72, at the start of the fourth quarter.
Chan preserved their effort with his heroics at the finish.
Barangay Ginebra had a chance to salvage the game and its conference, but Jayjay Helterbrand failed to elude defender Gabe Norwood in the dying seconds.
Helterbrand taking a bad shot that went way off sealed Barangay Ginebra’s fate.
The Kings became the next casualty of the tourney after the Blackwater Elite, the Kia Carnival, the GlobalPort Batang Pier, the San Miguel Beermen and the Barako Bull Energy.
The Ginebra Twin Towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar delivered the goods as the Kings shrugged off a shaky first half and took command most of the second half.
Slaughter, who had a huge double-double with 26 points and 16 rebounds, made a short jumper as Ginebra took the 91-90 lead with 45 ticks left.
Then a good defense by Slaughter on Almazan on the next play gave the Kings a good opportunity to close out the game.
But Chan stole the game for the E-Painters. (SB)
The scores:
Rain or Shine 92 — Chism 17, Chan 17, Almazan 17, Lee 9, Norwood 9, Uyloan 5, Arana 4, Quinahan 4, Cruz 4, Teng 2, Tiu 2, Belga 2, Teng 0.
Barangay Ginebra 91 — Slaughter 26, Aguilar 14, Caguioa 14, Dunigan 11, Urbiztondo 7, Tenorio 7, Helterbrand 5, Yeo 4, Baracael 3, Ellis 0.
Quarterscores: 21-18; 44-42; 63-68; 92-91.
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