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MANILA, Philippines – The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters showed grit defensively, grinding their way through Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 102-89, to reach the semifinals for the 9th straight time on Tuesday, April 19, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Painters swept their listless foes in the best-of-3 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals series as the Gin Kings extended its final 4 drought to 7 conferences.
“That’s something we are proud of,” said head coach Yeng Guiao of his team’s consistency in the playoffs. “We’re the most consistent team in this league and we take pride in that. We’ve gone through a lot but we’ve been in the semis even with adversities coming our way.”
Rain or Shine matched Alaska’s 9 straight semis stints from 1995-2000, according to PBA statistician Fidel Mangonon III.
Jeff Chan scored 10 of his team-high 22 points in the fourth period as Rain or Shine shut the door on any hope of a Ginebra comeback with timely baskets.
JR Quiñahan missed only 5 of his 15 shot attempts to finish with 21 points on top of 5 rebounds, while rookie Maverick Ahanmisi contributed 13 markers, 4 boards, and 4 assists off the bench.
Pierre Henderson-Niles, playing on his 3rd game for the Painters, was quiet on offense with just 10 points to go with 14 rebounds but Guiao was still satisified with the import’s performance.
“I’m happy with our import, we’re not getting dominated inside. He’s being more aggressive now,” he said.
Othyus Jeffers led the Gin Kings with 27 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals as Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter split between them 28 points and 16 rebounds.
LA Tenorio and Mark Caguioa added 11 and 10 points, respectively, as Ginebra struggled from the start to gain any sort of rhythm.
“We played good defense tonight. We tried to avoid a bad start like last game,” Guiao pointed out. “We felt if we could have a good start we would have a better chance of winning this game and that’s what happened.”
The Painters will face in a best-of-5 semifinals the winner of the quarterfinals match-up between the San Miguel Beermen and the Star Hotshots.
The season-ending Governors’ Cup begins on July 15.
Scores:
Rain or Shine (102): Chan 22, Quinahan 21, Ahanmisi 13, Henderson-Niles 10, Almazan 6, Norwood 6, Belga 5, Cruz 5, Tiu 5, Teng 4, Lee 3, Ponferada 2, Ibanes 0.
Ginebra (89): Jeffers 27, Aguilar 14, Slaughter 14, Tenorio 11, Caguioa 120, Devance 7, ellis 4, Thompson 2, Helterbrand 0, Marcelo 0, Mercado 0.
Quarter scores: 31-21; 50-44; 77-64; 102-89.
– Rappler.com
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