The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel are headed to the Philippine Cup semifinals anew, as they swept the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 99-91, in Game Two of their best-of-three quarterfinal series, Wednesday at SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Gin Kings have set up a meeting with reigning All-Filipino champions San Miguel Beermen in the next round. Their best-of-seven semis series will start either this Friday or Saturday, depending on the NLEX-Alaska result.
Game Two of the Road Warriors-Aces quarterfinal series is playing as of this posting, with NLEX ahead 1-0. If NLEX finish the series, the Ginebra-San Miguel semis clash will commence on Friday, March 9, still at the Big Dome.
“Wow, what a relief. It’s always a big relief to get through the quarters,” said coach Tim Cone. “To me, it’s the hardest series to win, the quarter series just because there’s so much pressure on you to make the semis all the time.
“That really builds hard and I think that the quarters really is, through my career, the hardest series to win. So when you finally get through it, it’s just truly a relief,” added the decorated mentor.
Japeth Aguilar paced the Barangay with 27 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, and three blocks. Jervy Cruz supplied 18 points and seven boards, and LA Tenorio chipped in 17 markers spiked by four triples, along with three assists.
The Gin Kings had already posted an 87-81 lead with 7:48 remaining in the game, but the Elasto Painters proved to be too tough. Raymond Almazan’s five straight points made it a one-point match, 86-87, 4:50 to go.
Rain or Shine had opportunities to take the lead. Ginebra, however, didn’t let up, pulling off a 9-3 scoring spree — ended by Aguilar’s short jumper — to build a seven-point cushion, 96-89, with 55 seconds left and put the game away for good.
Sol Mercado had 10 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while Joe Devance had 10 markers as well with five boards and five feeds. Scottie Thompson was just a point shy of a double-double as he had nine points and 10 caroms.
Maverick Ahanmisi led the Elasto Painters with 18 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Almazan finished with 14 points and 13 boards, Ed Daquiaog also scored 14, and Beau Belga contributed 13 markers.
The Scores:
Ginebra 99 – Aguilar 27, Cruz 18, Tenorio 17, Mercado 10, Devance 10, Thompson 9, Ferrer 6, Taha 2, Manuel 0.
Rain or Shine 91 – Ahanmisi 18, Daquioag 14, Almazan 14, Belga 13, Nambatac 8, Norwood 7, Ponferada 7, Washington 5, Onwubere 3, Borboran 2.
Quarterscores: 28-19, 43-46, 77-72, 99-91.
