Ren-Ren makes Welcoat’s day

Ren-Ren Ritualo celebrated his birthday in style last night, firing a shot-clock beating triple in the closing seconds and lifting Welcoat to a thrilling 58-57 victory over arch-rival Shark at the start of their title showdown for the PBL Chairman’s Cup at the Makati Coliseum.

"I had no other choice but to fire that shot since there was no time left in our clock," said Ritualo, whose triple with 18.2 seconds left shattered the 55-all deadlock and gave the Paintmasters the headstart in their best-of-seven series.

The Power Boosters actually looked headed to forcing an overtime as Rolly Basilides drew a foul from Eugene Tan while trying to launch his own triple. But the former Laguna Laker, after cooly sinking his first two charities, flubbed the last.

Still, Shark took control of the rebound but the Power Boosters scrambled and fumbled, failing to come up with a shot and enabling the Paintmasters to escape with the victory in a game that was close throughout.

"Medyo kumpiyansa akong masu-shoot dahil birthday ko," added Ritualo, who turned 23. He finished with 18 points, including seven points in the fourth quarter.

Earlier, Giv Beauty Soap tripped Ana Freezers, 100-87, in the opener of their own best-of-three series for third place. – Joey Villar