Express try to avoid elimination

Games today:

Araneta Coliseum

5:30 p.m.- Powerade vs. Alaska

7:45 p.m.- Air21 vs. Brgy. Ginebra

THE AIR21 EXPRESS try to stave off elimination while three other squads look to move to a safer ground in today’s double-header of the 36th PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Powerade Tigers and the Alaska Aces collide in the first game while the winless Express tangle with the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the main game.

The Express are the only winless squad in the tournament, sporting a dismal 0-5 (win-loss) slate and another loss today will formally eliminate them from contention.

Alaska, Ginebra and Powerade aren’t safe either.

The Aces and the Tigers occupy the seventh and eighth spots with identical 2-3 records, while the Kings are at sixth place with an even 2-2 card.

Tournament format states that the number seven to nine teams after the brief eight-game elimination round will be booted out while the the top six will move to the semifinal round.

Teams that are not in the bottom three also need to win games since the elimination round records will be carried to the semis, which will be a single-robin affair.

A team that wins five out of six semis games will advance to the championship round outright.

The grand slam-seeking Talk ’N Text Tropang Texters lead the standings with four wins and one defeat followed by the Petron Blaze Boosters, who are 4-2.

The Meralco Bolts and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are tied for the third and fourth places with similar 3-2 slates./EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA