ANTIPOLO – Barangay Ginebra ended its PBA Philippine Cup elimination-round campaign on a winning note by routing Rain or Shine, 98-80 to finish as the No. 4 seed on Sunday night at the Ynares Center.
The Kings went on an 18-2 run in the fourth quarter to pull away for good and win for the third straight time to end the eliminations, forging a four-way tie at the top with San Miguel, NLEX, Magnolia on 8-3 (win-loss) records.
READ SMB-Meralco rematch, Magnolia vs TNT highlight playoffs pairings
But the Kings ended up with the worse quotient among the four teams to land at fourth place.
Stephen Holt was 6-of-11 from deep to finish with a game-high 27 points for Ginebra, which drew fifth seed Converge FiberXers for its quarterfinals opponent.
The Kings though, will enjoy twice-to-beat advantage over the FiberXers.
“It’s the last game of the eliminations and we just wanted to finish it on the right note,” said Holt, who actually finished with a double-double after grabbing 12 rebounds, while adding four assists.
Added coach Tim Cone, “Tonight was Stephen’s night. But the other part of it is even though Stephen had that kind of night on the offensive side, he did not let go of his defense at all one little ounce. He was locked in defensively, he was locked in on getting back. He had 12 rebounds tonight to lead us.
“His scoring was really awesome and I enjoyed it, but I can’t tell you how much I love the other stuff that he does and what he brings to the team.”
Holt had 11 points in the third quarter when the Kings trailed the Elasto Painters, 63-61, after a three-pointer by Leonard Santillan. But Ginebra finished the period on a blazing 13-4 run to take a seven-point spread heading to the fourth.
The Elasto Painters ended up with a 6-5 record in a tie with TNT and defending champion Meralco, but had a better quotient than the Bolts to take the no. 7 seed. They will play twice-to-beat NLEX in the Final 8.
Adrian Nocum and Santillan led Rain or Shine with 13 points each, with Santillan having a double-double night with 10 rebounds.
The scores:
Ginebra (98) - Holt 27, J.Aguilar 18, Malonzo 15, Abarrientos 11, Thompson 8, Rosario 8, David 8, Adamos 2, Pessumal 1, Pinto 0, Cu 0, Ahanmisi 0, Gray 0, Mariano 0.
Rain or Shine (80) - Nocum 13, Santillan 13, Asistio 11, Malonzo 10, Mamuyac 9, Caracut 7, Clarito 6, Ildefonso 5, Datu 2, Norwood 2, Borboran 2, Escandor 0.
Quarterscores: 32-21; 45-43; 74-67; 98-80.
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