By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings booked the last spot in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup finals on Monday night after they survived the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in Game Four of their best-of-five semifinal series, 96-94, to take the series, 3-1.
Forced to the limit anew by a resilient Rain or Shine crew, Barangay Ginebra dug deep and made the needed plays in the end to hold on for the victory and make its way to the championship series of the midseason PBA tournament against defending champions San Miguel Beermen.
LA Tenorio got Barangay Ginebra to a strong start, helping it to a 17-9 lead in the first six minutes of the ball game.
Raymond Almazan, however, would not allow Rain or Shine to fall behind too long, jump-starting a mini run for them to come within two points, 19-17, at the 3:02 mark.
The Kings though survived the Elasto Painters’ comeback, holding a 25-20 edge by the end of the opening quarter.
Barangay Ginebra once again at a higher gear to begin the second canto, outscoring its opponent, 6-2, to extend its lead to nine points, 31-22, with just two minutes lapsing, before stretching it to 14 points, 40-26, in the next four minutes.
Behind import Reggie Johnson, Rain or Shine narrowed its deficit, cutting it to six points, 42-36, with 2:05 left in the opening half.
The Kings remained on top, 47-40, by the halftime break.
Barangay Ginebra continued to hold sway for much of the third period until Rain or Shine once again made a run back, with Mark Borboran and Jay Washington providing the offensive punch.
Down by 13 points, 64-51, with 4:26 to go, the Elasto Painters narrowed the gap, 67-63, in the next three minutes.
Justin Brownlee doused cold water on the Rain or Shine run with a three-pointer to give his team more breathing space, 70-63, a cushion they would use to build a 73-67 lead heading into the final quarter.
Recognizing that their campaign might be down to the last 12 minutes, the Elasto Painters opened with a sense of urgency in the payoff period.
Led once again by Mr. Almazan, the Elasto Painters went on a 12-6 run in the first three minutes to tie the count at 79-all.
The two teams went back and forth after, jostling to establish control heading into the final stretch.
The score was tied at 86-all with four minutes remaining before Greg Slaughter broke it with a basket to give the Kings the upper hand, 88-86, with 3:12 remaining.
Two free throws by James Yap 13 seconds later levelled the count anew at 88-all.
Gabe Norwood handed the lead, 90-88, to Rain or Shine with a floater with 2:29 to go, only to be answered by Mr. Tenorio with a triple to give the Kings the lead back, 91-90, 20 seconds later.
A forced turnover after by the Kings led to an easy layup by Joe Devance to extend their lead to three points, 93-90, with 1:46 left.
Rain or Shine had its chances to tie or take the lead but a couple of attempts to the basket failed to hit the mark.
Mr. Tenorio made it a five-point advantage for the Kings, 95-90, with 39 ticks remaining.
A quick basket for Mr. Johnson pulled the Elasto Painter to within three points, 95-92, two seconds later.
Two free throws by Chris Tiu later pushed Rain or Shine closer to a single point, 95-94, with seven seconds to go.
The Elasto Painters were forced to foul Jeff Chan after. A split by Mr. Chan on the charity stripe still opened the window for the Elasto Painters but they could not capitalize on it and saw the Kings hold for the victory.
Messrs. Devance and Slaughter led the way for the Kings with 19 points each with Mr. Tenorio chipping 16 of his own.
Mr. Brownlee only had 13 points but finished with 17 rebounds and eight assists.
Mr. Johnson paced Rain or Shine with 22 points, 16 rebounds and five assists with Mr. Almazan adding 13 points and Messrs. Borboran and Washington 11 points each.
“Rain or Shine is a great team and is well disciplined which allowed them to come back. We’re happy we got this win and to be back in the finals against San Miguel,” said Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone, whose wards now channel their focus on the Beermen in their best-of-seven finals which begin on Friday, July 27.

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