On cusp of twice-to-beat bonus; E-Painters spill Fuel Masters

MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine held Eugene Phelps and Jeff Chan to a combined output of seven points after pouring in 55 in the first half as the Elasto Painters nipped the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 108-106, to close in on a Top Two finish in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations at the MOA Arena last night.

In clamping down on Phelps and Chan, the Elasto Painters erased a 12-point halftime deficit, 45-57, and surged all the way to regaining the solo lead in the team standings with an eighth win against a lone defeat.

Behind the scorching start of Phelps and Chan in this Petron Blaze Saturday Special, the Fuel Masters even enjoyed a huge 19-point lead at 29-10 before closing the opening quarter at 31-17.

The E-Painters, however, slowly got back into the game and went on to deal the Fuel Masters a painful loss on the heroics of Reggie Johnson, James Yap, Raymond Almazan and Maverick Ahanmisi in the fourth quarter.

Phoenix dropped to 3-6, going to its last two games against GlobalPort and Alaska Milk.

Rain or Shine, meanwhile, pursues a Top Two finish and its reward of a twice-to-beat bonus in the quarterfinals as the E-Painters play the Meralco Bolts and the TNT KaTropa Texters in their closing games in the elims.

Meanwhile, Alaska Milk (7-1) and Meralco (6-2) push their own twice-to-beat bids as they face off in an interesting match at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.

The Aces and the Bolts slug it out at 4:30 p.m. preceding an equally important tiff between the Magnolia Hotshots (4-4) and the Barangay Ginebra Kings (2-5).

Later in the night, Renaldo Balkman exploded for 43 points that went with 15 rebounds, six blocks and four assists as San Miguel Beer withstood TNT KaTropa, 99-94, in an intense battle marred by the ejection of Arwind Santos, Marcio Lassiter, Terrence Romeo and Tony Semerad on technical infractions.

Balkman and the Beermen kept their poise and composure, and in the process caught up with GlobalPort and Magnolia at sixth place on identical 4-4 win-loss slates.

Romeo and Lassiter were tossed out of the game for a pair of technical fouls in the second quarter. Santos and Semerad were thrown out for flagrant infractions incurred in a scuffle in the fourth.

The scores: 

First Game

Rain or Shine 108 – Johnson 32, Yap 13, Belga 13, Almazan 11, Tiu 9, Daquioag 7, Ponferada 7, Ahanmisi 7, Norwood 5, Borboran 2, Nambatac 2.

Phoenix 106 – Chan 26, Phelps 26, Wright 15, Jazul 13, Kramer 11, Wilson 6, Perkins 5, Chua 4, Revilla 0, Intal 0, Mendoza 0. 

Quarterscores: 17-31, 45-57, 80-85, 108-106

Second Game

San Miguel 99 – Balkman 43, Fajardo 19, Cabagnot 12, Ross 7, Lassiter 7, Santos 7, Pessumal 4, Lanete 0, Rosser 0.

TNT 94 – Smith 26, Pogoy 13, Trollano 13, Rosario 8, Williams 8, Castro 7, Semerad 6, Reyes 6, Cruz 3, Romeo 2, Garcia 2, Taha 0. 

Quarterscores: 33-22, 55-46, 79-72, 99-94.