Rain or Shine eliminates Barako Bull with 116-101 win
THE RAIN OR SHINE Elasto Painters showed the Barako Bull Energy Colas the exit door via a 116-101 conquest last night in the 38th PBA Philippine Cup at the MOA Arena.
The Painters led by double digits most of the way, quashing the Energy Colas’ hopes of advancing to the quarterfinal round.
The Air21 Express benefited from Barako Bull’s defeat as it brought them to the next round. The Express finished their elimination round assignment with five wins and nine losses. Barako Bull went into the game looking to force a playoff against Air21 for the last playoff berth.
The Energy Colas bowed out with a 4-10 (win-loss) record.
Seldom-used guard Jonathan Uyloan was the surprise package for the Painters as he tallied 18 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
SAN MIG TAKES
NO.2 SPOT
The Painters finished the elimination round with nine victories and five defeats. But they lost their chances of earning a top-two finish after San Mig Coffee defeated Globalport in yesterday’s second game, 107-96.
The win, the Coffee Mixers’ 10th, gave San Mig the second spot heading into the playoffs. Talk ‘N text owns the no. 1 spot.
Rain or Shine could have had a shot at the top two if San Mig Coffee lost its last two games but that all vanished with the win last night.
Making sure of the win was Peter June Simon, who scored 27 points for the Coffee Mixers, who will play a non-bearing game against the Meralco Bolts on Sunday.
Bagging the top two spots means a lot since it gives the teams twice-to-beat advantages against their lower-ranked foes. With this, San Mig will hold that edge against Petron while Talk ‘N Text will also have that advantage against Air21 in the next round.
BOX SCORES:
RAIN OR SHINE (116)- Cruz 23, Uyloan 18, Lee 16, Chan 11,Quinahan 11, Belga 10, Tiu 8, Norwood 8, Rodriguez 4, Arana 4, Jaime 3, Matias 0, Tang 0.
BARAKO BULL (101)- Seigle 21, Tubid 17, Yap 16, Kramer 15, cruz 13, Anthony 11, marcelo 8, Najorda 0, Pennisi 0./EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA
