MANILA — The Barangay Ginebra Kings survived a grueling battle, outlasting the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 100-92, in triple overtime in the final elimination round game of the PBA Philippine Cup on Friday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Ginebra, Rain or Shine, and idle NLEX ended up with the same 6-5 win-loss card in a tie for fourth to sixth place, but the Kings wound up as the fourth seed by virtue of a superior quotient. The E-Painters finished as the fifth seed and will once again go up against the Kings starting Monday in a best-of-three quarterfinals series. NLEX took the sixth seed and will figure in the same best-of-three quarterfinals duel with the third-seeded Alaska Aces.
Ginebra’s victory eliminated Blackwater and kept TNT’s playoff hopes alive. The Texters will now try to get the eighth seed in a do-or-die match against the Phoenix Fuel Masters on Sunday. The winner of that match will go up against the top-seeded and defending champion San Miguel Beer, with a twice-to-beat advantage, in the quarterfinals.
The Kings allowed a double-digit lead to evaporate in the fourth quarter in the face of a furious ROS comeback. However, the E-Painters could not buy easy baskets as the game ended at 80-all in regulation. The first overtime period ended up at 85-all. The two tired teams continued to slug it out in the second five-minute extension but managed to score only two points apiece as the score also ended up tied once again at 87-87.
The Kings got going in the third OT, with Sol Mercado scoring the go-ahead layup, followed by a midcourt jumper by Jervy Cruz to finally settle the contest that took nearly three hours to finish, the longest game played so far in the season.
Japeth Aguilar led Ginebra with 30 points, 17 boards, and five assists while LA Tenorio added 20 points. Joe Devance tallied 15 points while Mercado and Scottie Thompson chipped in 10 markers apiece. Greg Slaughter suffered an ankle injury in practice on Thursday, keeping him out of the game.
Beau Belga led ROS with 17 points, six boards, and five assists while Gabe Norwood finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in a losing effort.
ROS missed the services of injured players James Yap and Chris Tiu.
Phoenix 104, GlobalPort 100
The Phoenix Fuel Masters staved off elimination, surviving a furious endgame assault by the GlobalPort Batang Pier for a 104-100 victory on Friday night.
Phoenix thus finished the elimination round with a 5-6 win-loss card, the same as GlobalPort and idle TNT KaTropa. Although the three teams are tied at seventh to ninth place, GlobalPort ended up as the seventh seed by virtue of a superior quotient. Phoenix and TNT will thus dispute the eighth and last seed in the quarterfinals in a knockout match on Sunday.
The GlobalPort defeat spoiled the return of the team’s biggest star Terrence Romeo who got sidelined for 10 games due to a knee injury. As the seventh seed, the Batang Pier will now face the second-seeded Magnolia Hotshots that have a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
The Fuel Masters got off to a hot start and led by as much as 31 points, 66-35, in the third quarter. But the Batang Pier refused to give up and came to within four points, 102-98, following a Romeo fastbreak layup off a Stanley Pringle pass with 26.3 seconds left. Phoenix, however, managed to hold on to the lead for the win.
Matthew Wright led Phoenix with 32 points, 22 of them scored in the first half. Jeff Chan added 18, with his last point coming from a free throw that gave the Fuel Masters a 104-98 lead. Gelo Alolino and RJ Jazul chipped in 10 points apiece.
Romeo paced GlobalPort with 20 points in 30 minutes off the bench. Sean Anthony added 17 points, eight boards, five assists, three blocks, and two steals. Pringle finished with 16 points, 10 assists, six boards, and three steals.
Game Sunday: (Playoff for eighth seed) TNT Katropa Texters vs. Phoenix Fuel Masters.
