INQUIRER Sports

GAMES FRIDAY (Cuneta Astrodome)
5 p.m.—Barangay Ginebra vs San Miguel Beer
7:30 p.m.—Rain or Shine vs Sta. Lucia

MANILA, Philippines—Jong Uichico didn’t look and sound worried at all after his Barangay Ginebra crew lost a heartbreaker to San Miguel Beer Wednesday night in their quarterfinal duel in the PBA-KFC Philippine Cup.

“Look, we held them (Beermen) to 78 points, and we had a shot at winning the game in the end,” Uichico said. “Looking at the disparity in the lineups and us being able to limit such a talented team like San Miguel was an achievement in itself.

“The breaks just didn’t go our way. Had we gotten a rebound here and made a shot there, it would have been different and you wouldn’t be asking me these questions (about confidence of the team),” he told reporters.

Ginebra went down, 77-78, in the opener of the best-of-three series after Jayjay Helterbrand missed an off-balanced jumper at the buzzer.

Uichico believes that the outcome of Game 2 at 5 p.m. Friday at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City will also be close.

“It would be hard to make an adjustment considering how well we played tonight (Wednesday),” he said. “Losing didn’t dampen our confidence. It’s still high. We’re still in it (the series).”

Unlike Ginebra, Rain or Shine will be in dire straits when it tangles with defending champion Sta. Lucia Realty later at 7:30 p.m. minus its best all-around player in Gabe Norwood.

And should the Elasto Painters survive the Realtors Friday night, they will play without Solomon Mercado in Sunday’s Game 3 after the league upgraded Mercado’s Game 1 infraction to Flagrant Foul 2.

Norwood will serve out his automatic one-game suspension after being thrown out in the third quarter for throwing the ball at Nelbert Omolon.

Mercado, meanwhile, had his technical foul upgraded following a review of the game tape by the league commissioner late Thursday. Like Norwood, he was also fined P20,000 but will serve out his suspension on Sunday, if ever.

If the Realtors prevail, Mercado’s suspension will take effect in Rain or Shine’s first game in the Fiesta Cup.

A Flagrant Foul 2 infraction means an automatic one-game suspension.

Norwood was banished with 5:55 left in the third over his altercation with Omolon that ignited a near free-for-all.

Mercado joined the fray and shoved Omolon to the ground. He also got a piece of Joseph Yeo, who came to Omolon’s rescue.

Sta. Lucia’s Marlou Aquino will also serve a one-game ban Friday night after another Flagrant Foul 2 on Jay-R Reyes. He was also fined P20,000, while Yeo coughed up P10,000 for his part in the melee.

Ryan Araña was fined P10,000 for entering the court while Omolon escaped with a P1,000 penalty.