JAY R. GOTERA
Saudi Gazette
MANILA — The Barangay Ginebra Kings clobbered the Talk N Text Tropang Texters, 91-84, Sunday night, the last playing date of the PBA Philippine Cup elimination round, to arrange a smashing quarterfinals duel with sister team and long-time rival Star Hotshots on Dec. 25.
The Kings posted their third straight victory and seventh overall against four defeats to take the fourth seed in the playoffs. Ginebra will have a twice-to-beat advantage against Star, which finished the elimination round as the ninth seed with a 4-7 win-loss mark.
Despite the loss, Talk N Text will still have the twice-to-beat edge after finishing as the sixth seed with a 6-5 record. The Texters will go up the seventh seeded NLEX Road Warriors.
The two other quarterfinals pairing will see the fifth-seeded Global Port Batang Pier (7-4) going up against the eighth seeded Barako Bull Energy (5-6) and the third seeded Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (8-3) tangling with the 10th seeded Blackwater Elite (3-8). GlobalPort and Rain or Shine will have the twice-to-beat advantage in their respective matchups.
The winners of the first phase of the quarterfinals will advance to the knockout stages. The two surviving teams will then go up against Alaska and San Miguel for the best-of-7 semifinals beginning on Jan. 4, 2016.
In Sunday’s match, seven-foot center Greg Slaughter dominated the paint, finishing with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks to lead the streaking Kings, who have won six of their last seven games.
Slaughter’s frontcourt partner Japeth Aguilar added 17 points and seven boards. Sol Mercado contributed 12 markers.
Rookie Troy Rosario led TNT with 22 points, including five three-pointers, and 10 rebounds. Larry Fonacier added 14 points while top gunner Jayson Castro could only come up with 13 markers on a mediocre 5-of-17 (29 percent) shooting from the field. Harvey Carey chipped in 10 points.
Ginebra led by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter but TNT made a 15-2 run late in the game to cut Ginebra’s lead to 85-81, with 2:57 left.
The Kings refused to get rattled as Mercado rifled a pass to Slaughter for a slam. LA Tenorio then drilled two free throws to increase Ginebra’s lead further to 89-81.
Blackwater 108, Mahindra 99
Veteran point guard Mike Cortez exploded for 30 points, including his team’s last eight, and grabbed 10 rebounds to power the Blackwater Elite to a scintillating 108-99 win over the Mahindra Enforcers.
Their third win in 11 games was enough for Blackwater to make its first-ever playoff appearance in the PBA, clinching the 10th and last spot in the quarterfinals. Mahindra suffered its ninth loss in 11 outings to crash out of the conference.
Reil Cervantes added 24 points, including six three-pointers, for Blackwater. Eric Gamalinda and Carlo Lastimosa chipped in 16 and 14 points, respectively.
The Enforcers were led by Aldrech Ramos who finished with 22 while rookie Michael Digregorio posted 20 markers. LA Revilla scored 15 while KG Canaleta and Karl Dehesa added 12 apiece.
Games Friday (Quarterfinals): GlobalPort Batang Pier (twice-to-beat edge) vs. Barako Bull Energy and Barangay Ginebra Kings (twice-to-beat edge) vs Star Hotshots.
