The Elasto Painters used some of their good start to finish off Barangay Ginebra and fashion a coasting 106-91 victory Wednesday for a sweep of their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals series at the Ynares Center here.
Jeff Chan scored a game-high 22 points to lead a balanced attack by Rain or Shine as it followed up its 112-105 overtime victory in the best-of-three duel's opener last Friday to arrange a semifinal meeting with early qualifier Powerade.
Not bad at all for a team that has gone to the semis only twice before since joining the league in 2006 and did not raise much expectations after winding up the eliminations at No. 5 for the showdown with Barangay Ginebra, winner of its last five elims games for a No. 4 ranking.
"It was really a big challenge for us, taking on Ginebra in the quarters," said head coach Yeng Guiao. "We're taking it as a very good sign for a young team such as ours to play under pressure. (Our players) have toughened up. I just hope we can bring it to the next round."
Despite getting buried under early by Rain or Shine's 41-point explosion right in the opening quarter and falling behind by 24 points twice Barangay Ginebra kept its poise and even trimmed the deficit to just 13 in the third period and 14 in the fourth.
The Elasto Painters managed to weather the storm each time, however, and went into the final two minutes with a 104-81 spread by also getting it done on the other end of the court.
"We kept our game plan simple," related Guiao. "Our goal really was just to double team their guards, contain their guards and see what happens. Our offense just takes care of itself."
Mike Cortez finished with a team-high 17 points, with 12 coming in the fourth when all was lost. Barangay Ginebra's other backcourt men -- Mark Caguioa, Rob Labagala, Jayjay Helterbrand and Ronald Tubid -- combined for 25 points but all were hardly factors.
As a team, Rain or Shine finished making 35 of 82 shots to Ginebra's 31-for-80. But the Elasto Painters went 22-for-42 in the first half and made six of 10 three-point attempts in the opening quarter alone to get the momentum it hardly relinquished.
"I think the key today was we took away their initiative from the very start," noted Guiao. "We got a really good start and that was the key in this game. We were having a good shooting night tonight so I just asked the boys to shoot whenever they feel it's a good shot. Fortunately, our shots were going in."
After going scoreless in the first game, Ronjay Buenafe atoned with 13 points while Ronnie Matias, Beau Belga and Ryan Arana had at least 11 each to make up for Paul Lee's eight markers.
Lee made 19 points in the first game but only had a triple to show after the first three quarters. He still finished the game, however and his five-point cluster capped Rain or Shine's 9-0 surge from a 95-81 count.
Rain or Shine scored 43 fourth-quarter points to complete its comeback from a 17-point deficit last Friday and the Elasto Painters merely seemed to pick up from where they left off, scattering 41 in the opening period to race to a 17-point lead.
Guiao's charges actually led by as much as 33-15 following Gabe Norwood's left corner triple.
Barangay Ginebra did manage a charge of its own, pouncing on Rain or Shine's 1-for-10 shooting and rallying behind Billy Mamaril and Caguioa for an 11-2 blast that whittled the deficit to 50-63, 7:23 left in the third quarter.
Whatever chance the Kings may have had of turning the game's complexion around vanished, however, when Mamaril missed a jumper and Belga blocked Tubid in their next two possessions.
That gave Rain or Shine the opening to steadily pull away anew, with Belga, Buenafe, Chan and Arana showing the way to a 78-61 lead going into the last 12 minutes of play.
The hot shooting started to taper off in the second quarter, but Rain or Shine continued to get the job done on the other end as it stretched the cushion to a high of 24 points twice before settling for a 58-37 halftime count.
Meanwhile, PBA commissioner Chito Salud bared the league will be donating a total P1.1 million for those ravaged by Typhoon Sendong in the South.
Salud said the PBA board has approved the giving of P1 million to the Philippine National Red Cross and P100,000 to Gawad Kalinga for said agencies to handle the distribution of the funds to the victims. (NC)
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 106 - Chan 22, Buenafe 13, Matias 12, Belga 12, Arana 11, Norwood 9, Quinahan 9, Lee 8, Rodriguez 6, Cruz 4, Tang 0.
BARANGAY GINEBRA 91 - Cortez 17, Canaleta 13, Intal 12, Caguioa 11, Mamaril 10, Labagala 8, Villanueva 8, W. Wilson 6, Helterbrand 6, Tubid 0.
Quarterscores: 41-24, 58-37, 78-61, 106-91
source pba.com.ph
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