ANTIPOLO, Philippines – Rain or Shine and Barangay Ginebra showed grit in the ultimate make-or-break against uber-tough quarterfinal opponents to book their familiar spots in the semifinals.
The Elasto Painters, unleashing a strong finishing kick, completed a reverse sweep against Converge in Game 3, 112-103, to gain a third straight Final Four appearance last night at the Ynares Center.
Deon Thompson dished out 34 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists as he formed a 1-2 punch with Adrian Nocum (21 markers) and anchored ROS’ fightback from a 0-1 deficit and the right to face TNT in the next round.
The Gin Kings, who failed to close it out in Game 2, got the job done in a 94-87 verdict over Meralco that sent them to the F4 for the sixth straight conference with top-seeded NorthPort as next opponent.
RJ Abarrientos, who was the subject of alleged death threats on the heels of their 104-108 loss last Friday, joined forces with Justin Brownlee in a crucial 15-6 exchange that broke the KO game apart, 86-76.
“Playoff” Brownlee produced a near-triple double of 25 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists with Stephen Holt (17) and Abarrientos (16) serving fine complementary roles.
The best-of-seven semis pitting TNT-ROS and NorthPort-Ginebra will begin on Feb. 26 yet as the league takes a break for Gilas Pilipinas’ tournament in Qatar and the third and final window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
“This is what we’ve been trying to achieve. Past two conferences, we made the semifinals so it would be a pity if we did not make the semifinals in this conference,” said coach Yeng Guiao.
”It’s also a validation of the hard work that the guys put in, their togetherness, their camaraderie. It’s also a testimony to the progress of the team in general. To be in the semifinals of three consecutive conferences, for an independent team to be able to do that, I think it indicates we have some consistency.”
It was a nip-and-tuck quarterfinal sudden death until Rain or Shine, powered by Beau Belga’s back-to-back triples, created a 91-80 separation with a searing 11-3 blast to start the fourth.
“That’s really the push, the spark that we needed at that point,” Guiao said of Belga’s exploits, which he did while giving Thompson a breather in the final canto.