Ginebra wallops Rain or Shine, grabs semis seat

MANILA, Philippines - Barangay Ginebra turned its highly-anticipated playoff game with Rain or Shine into a lopsided match, blowing the Elasto Painters away, 114-71, to secure the no. 2 outright semifinals berth in the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo Sunday night. The Kings dominated from start to finish, racing to an early 30-14 lead from which the Elasto Painters never recovered. Import David Noel set the tone for that blazing start by the defending champions, scoring 13 of his 17 points during that breakaway stretch. “This is something that we need as we prepare for the coming semifinals," said Noel, who added six rebounds and whom coach Jong Uichico no longer fielded in during the entire payoff period when the Kings already had the game wrapped up. Ronald Tubid topscored with 18 points while Cyrus Baguio had 16 for the Kings, who now join sister team and early qualifier San Miguel Beermen into the Final Four. Ginebra began the season-ending meet with a 1-5 record, but turned its fortune for good following the arrival of Noel, who replaced original choice Rod Neily. With Noel in tow, the Kings racked up seven straight wins to rise from the bottom of the standings. They eventually ended their elimination campaign with an 8-1 record, including the runaway win over the Elasto Painters. Except for a 1-0 count, Rain or Shine wasn’t really in the game against Ginebra, trailing by as many as 45 (114-69) with a few second remaining in the one-sided match. Jay-R Reyes had 17 points to show the way for the Elasto Painters, who only got six markers from high-scoring import Jai Lewis. The loss relegated Rain or Shine into the wild card phase, where it owns a twice-to-beat edge over 10th seeded Barako Bull. No. 4 Burger King also owns a twice-to-beat incentive against ninth seed Alaska. In the other playoff pairings, no. 5 Sta. Lucia battles no. 8 Coca-Cola while no. 6 Talk `N Text takes its on no. 7 Purefoods in a pair of knockout matches. - GMANews.TV