By REYNALD MAGALLON
Barangay Ginebra pulled away in the final frame and took down Rain or Shine, 98-80, to claim the last seat in the Top 4 and the twice-to-beat advantage in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Sunday, June 15.
Stephen Holt presided over the huge second half breakaway, firing 11 of his 27 points in the third quarter where the Kings created the separation over the hard-fighting Elasto Painters.
With the win, Ginebra improved to an 8-3 record, sharing the top spot with San Miguel, NLEX, and Magnolia. The Kings, however, ended up at the fourth spot of the standings due to their inferior quotient.
Rain or Shine, meanwhile, dropped all the way to the seventh spot after finishing the eliminations with a 6-5 record.
The Elasto Painters actually still had the chance at making it into the top 4 although they needed 14 or more points of winning margin against the Kings.
ROS was very much within that goal in the third frame when it managed to to stick around Ginebra, even taking a 63-61 lead. With Holt leading the assault, Ginebra then unloaded a searing 18-4 rally bridging the last two quarters to establish a huge 98-67 lead.
Holt drilled in six triples while also hauling 12 rebounds and dishing out four assists to his line. Japeth Aguilar and Jamie Malonzo also had double-doubles with the former firing 18 points and the latter adding 15 points while both collaring 10 rebounds each.
Meanwhile, San Miguel vented its ire NorthPort with a 126-91 drubbing to close out the eliminations as the No.1 seed.
Getting denied at securing a top 4 finish on their first try when they lost to Converge, the Beermen left nothing to chance this time and were dominant from start to finish against the Batang Pier.
NorthPort hardly had any resistance as SMB earned a share for the best record at 8-3 along with NLEX and Magnolia, but ended up claiming the top seed by virtue of a superior quotient.
By clinching the No.1 spot, San Miguel also got the twice-to-beat advantage, as well as the chance to eliminate eighth seed Meralco that would serve as a revenge of sorts against the same team that defeated them in the all-Filipino finals last season.
CJ Perez made sure that would be the playoff pairing for SMB after setting the tone to the Beermen’s offensive thrust with 24 points, while Jericho Cruz and Don Trollano provided support with 17 points each.
