Giants finish off Painters, set semis duel with SMB

Purefoods finally ended Rain or Shine’s Cinderella story in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup. James Yap scored a game-high 28 points and Marc Pingris grabbed 16 rebounds, made 14 points, and provided the hustle and heart the Giants needed in disposing of the young Elasto Painters, 95-85, and winning the decisive game of their best-of-five quarterfinals series Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Giants next face no. 2 seed San Miguel Beermen in the best-of-seven semifinals beginning Wednesday. “It’s a great relief to finally beat Rain or Shine," said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio. “People thought this series was a breeze for us. But they (Painters) are quicker and younger than us, and at times in the series had bigger hearts than us. But not in tonight’s game." Purefoods clinched the series, 3-2, and foiled Rain or Shine’s bid to become the first ninth-seed team to advance in the semifinals. The Giants won Games 1 and 2, but allowed the Painters to level the series after dropping Games 3 and 4, paving the way for the sudden-death game. But James Yap came to Purefoods’ rescue, shooting 11-of-22 from the field, three nights after scoring just eight points in the Giants’ 100-103 loss in Game 4. He scored 13 points when the Giants broke free in the third period. Kerby Raymundo and Roger Yap each added 16 points while Pingris shone on the defensive end by shutting off Mike Hrabak, who ended up scoreless in a do-or-die match witnessed by a crowd of 21,422. “I always felt that Rain or Shine is really, really a hard match-up for us," said Gregorio. “At least we finally made it to the Final Four." James Yap sparked Purefoods offense in the third period, scoring 13 markers that helped Purefoods pad a three-point lead at the half to 80-64 in the dying seconds of the quarter. The Elasto Painters never recovered from there as the closest they got was at 91-85. James Yap then had a short basket and Raymundo hit a pair of free throws to push the Giants at 95-85 with only 1:37 remaining. Sol Mercado scattered 23 points and Gabe Norwood had 20 for the Elasto Painters. - GMANews.TV