Ginebra advances, eliminates Painters

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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Thursday, March 8, 2018
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MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings advanced to the semifinals of the PBA Philippine Cup.

Kings beat Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 99-91 in Game 2 of their quarterfinals series last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Leading the charge was Japeth Aguilar with double-double 27 points and 12 rebounds. Jervy Cruz chipped in 18 markers while LA Tenorio contributed 17 points.

Kings will face three-time defending champion San Miguel Beermen in the best-of-seven semifinals – in a rematch of last year’s All-Filipino Conference finals encounter.

“Beating a team like Rain or Shine three in a row is really, really difficult,” said Kings head coach Tim Cone. “I am glad we were able to do it but we will now face a monster in San Miguel in the semis.”

Cruz, Aguilar and Joe Devance made strides early for a 28-19 Kings lead. Painters banked on the hot shooting of Maverick Ahanmisi in the second period for a slim 46-43 halftime edge.

Painters was still up by 6 early in the third when Kings went on a huge run behind Tenorio and Aguilar for a 55-53 lead, which grew to 77-72 heading into fourth with baskets from Devance and Tenorio.

The game was tight in the fourth. Kings was ahead by only a point 77-76 but managed to pull away toward victory with baskets from Aguilar, Devance and Solomon Mercado.

Ahanmisi had 18 while Raymond Almazan and Eduardo Daquioag added 14 points apiece for Painters, which played without the injured James Yap and Chris Tiu./PN
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