By REYNALD MAGALLON
Rain or Shine put together a huge second half performance and took down second seed NLEX, 103-92, to barge into the semifinals of the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Saturday, June 21.
The Elasto Painters unloaded a back-breaking 20-4 run bridging the third and final frame to pull away and complete a reversal of the Road Warriors for a fourth straight semifinals appearance.
Interestingly, ROS also arranged a third straight semis duel against TNT this season with both of their first two meetings going the way of the Tropang 5G.
Leonard Santillan led the way for the Elasto Painters with 24 points to go with nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks while Jhonard Clarito, fresh off a 20-20 performance in Game 1, remained a key factor with 13 points and 16 rebounds.
Mike Malonzo was also a spark off the bench in the final frame by putting up 10 points, while Andrei Caracut also stepped up and fired 16 points built on four triples and a four. Anton Asistio also chipped in 11 points.
Meanwhile, Kelly Williams showed nerves of steel and coolly sank two pressure-packed free throws in the waning seconds as TNT completed a quarterfinals upset of the twice-to-beat Magnolia, 80-79, in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Saturday, June 21.Williams saved the day for the Tropang 5G by collaring a rebound off a Jordan Heading miss from the four and then getting sent to the foul line with 2.7 seconds left in the game.
A career 56-percent free throw shooter, Williams cashed in the first and then rattled the second to put TNT up by one before Calvin Oftana had the game-preserving tap on the inbound pass of Magnolia as the shot clock expired.
TNT not only overcame a twice-to-win disadvantage behind another nail-biter of a victory but also kept its Grand Slam bid alive by securing a spot in the semifinals either against Rain or Shine or NLEX.
The big free throws from Williams also preserved the effort of RR Pogoy, who fired 18 points including a crucial undergoal stab that put TNT ahead, 79-78, in the waning seconds.
Ian Sangalang replied with a layup to get the lead back but the Hotshots failed to clear the rebound in the final TNT possession.
Pogoy added seven rebounds and five assists to his name while Oftana shared the scoring honors with him with 18 points to go with seven rebounds.
