RAIN OR SHINE kept its winning ways, although barely, and enters the semifinals on a high after scraping past Talk N Text, 92-90, on Sunday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Painters won their fourth straight game in the PBA Governors Cup and finished the preliminaries with an 8-1 win-loss record for their best elimination-round finish ever.
“We’re hoping we can sustain the momentum and the confidence that we’ve gained,” Painters coach Yeng Guiao said.
Jamelle Cornley delivered down the stretch for the Painters as the bulky import scored four straight points in the last two minutes to break an 85-all tie.
“We brought an import who’s the right fit for us and who has carried us the whole tournament. And we're expecting he’ll do the same thing in the semifinals,” Guiao said.
The Painters are possibly two wins away from clinching a berth in the Finals.
Rain or Shine was still down by nine, 64-54, early in the third, but went on a 24-6 run, capped by a Jeff Chan breakaway layup, to gain the upper hand, 78-70, with eight minutes and three seconds to go in the fourth.
Jayson Castro scored a team-high 25 points, including nine in the fourth where he spearheaded a Texters’ comeback.
The speedy guard buried a triple with 2:51 left that momentarily gave the lead back to the Texters at 83-82, before Cornley, Paul Lee, and Jeff Chan conspired to finally seal the deal for the Painters.
Import Paul Harris finished with a measly 11 points for the Texters, who ended the eliminations with a 5-4 mark.
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 92 - Cornely 19, Lee 18, Chan 14, Cruz 11, Norwood 9, Belga 7, Quinahan 6, Tang 2, Arana 2, Buenafe 2, Ibanes 2.
TALK 'N TEXT 90 - Castro 25, Harris 11, Reyes 11, Williams 10, Fonacier 10, Alapag 8, Aban 5, De Ocampo 4, Peek 4, Aguilar 2.
Quarterscores: 27-28, 46-51, 67-68, 92-90.
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