Ginebra beats Rain or Shine to push Petron in Finals

Ginebra took care of the remaining stumbling block in sister-team Petron's finals bid in the PBA Governors Cup when it defeated Rain or Shine Friday night, 103-95, at the Araneta Coliseum. The Kings' victory paved the way for the Blaze Boosters to arrange a championship showdown with early finalist and Grand Slam-seeking Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters for the season-ending crown. Game 1 of the best-of-seven title series is set Sunday, a rematch of the Philippine Cup showdown which Talk 'N Text won in six games. The Kings, Blaze Boosters and Alaska Aces ended their respective semifinals campaign tied with identical 8-5 (win-loss) records. Petron, however, earned the right of facing the Tropang Texters owing to a better quotient. Petron's 98-83 win over Talk 'N Text earlier slammed the door on Ginebra's hopes of making the championship round for the second straight conference. Alaska was obviously rooting for a Rain or Shine win as a Ginebra loss would send them to the Finals as they had a superior quotient over Petron in case of a two-way tie between the Aces and the Blaze Boosters. But the Kings came to Petron's rescue by refusing to give the Elasto Painters, who played all-Filipino, any room for a win. Ronald Tubid paced Ginebra with 18 points, while rookie John Wilson and Mike Cortez scored 16 each. Beau Belga finished with 20 points to show the way for Rain or Shine. - JVP, GMA News