INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines?Barangay Ginebra watched Talk ?N Text walk out of Game 4 Friday. On Sunday night, the Kings escorted the Texters out of the tournament.

JC Intal delivered the most solid performance of his career and the Kings played with steely resolve in the stretch to eliminate the defending champions Texters, 113-100, Sunday night in the deciding Game 5 of the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Ginebra mustered limitless grit in the closing minutes to hold off Talk ?N Text?s repeated rallies and oust the Texters, 3-2, in their best-of-five quarterfinal showdown.

?I couldn?t imagine us being in Game 5, so there?s no other explanation I can find here,? Ginebra coach Jong Uichico.

?The Lord blessed us with this quarterfinal victory. It had nothing to do with me. It?s an awesome feeling that we made it through to the semifinals despite all that?s happened.?

The Kings also became the first team in league history to come back from a 0-2 hole in a best-of-five series.

The Kings advance to face the Alaska Aces in a best-of-seven semifinals starting Wednesday. The other half of the semifinal pairing will have San Miguel Beer going up against Purefoods, which advanced courtesy of James Yap, by eliminating Rain or Shine, 95-85, in the first game earlier.

Yap, the 2006 Most Valuable Player, scattered 28 points, including 13 in a pivotal third-period spurt for the Tender Juicy Giants.

?Our team just showed up with a bigger heart today,? said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio, whose squad is 0-2 against the Beermen in the conference. ?It?s just a great relief to finally hurdle Rain or Shine.?

Yap averaged just 12.5 points and missed all his 12 attempts from beyond the arc when Purefoods dropped Games 3 and 4.

But he was in blazing form in Sunday?s game, which drew a season-high 21,422 fans, burying 11 of his 22 shots as he broke out of his slump when it mattered most.

The Elasto Painters were looking to become the first team in over a decade to win a best-of-five series from 0-2 down.

And for a while, Rain or Shine, which was playing its fifth knockout game in the last two weeks, looked on track of that target by keeping in step with the Giants in a close first half until Yap found his stride.

Yap poured seven in a 12-5 burst that gave Purefoods a 62-54 lead in the third period.

?We made adjustments,? said Yap. ?I got the ball just inside the three-point line, so it took me one or two dribbles to drive to the basket. I was getting the ball outside the three-point line in Games 3 and 4 and the defense kept on collapsing on me, that?s why I struggled.?

Sol Mercado kept the Elasto Painters in the game with a triple that sliced the deficit, 85-91.

That proved to be their last stand as Yap and Raymundo nailed consecutive jumpers.

Talk ?N Text?s elimination meant that there would still be no back-to-back Philippine Cup champion. There had been none in the past 25 seasons of the league.

Intal finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks as the Gin Kings provided a glorious ending to a series that will be remembered more for the 2009 champion Tropang Texters? walkout in Game 4.

That protest action was triggered by the flagrant foul 2 called on Ranidel de Ocampo.

Much of the pre-game talk surrounded on whether or not the Tropang Texters would show up following the decision of the league to uphold the foul on De Ocampo, who was suspended for Game 5.

The Texters did show up just a few minutes before the game. The Texters held a meeting first at the Moro Lorenzo Gym, before proceeding to the Araneta Coliseum in a bus.

A couple of fans were seen handing out white roses to the Texters as they entered the arena. Supporters also wore yellow T-shirts bearing the words ?Be Fair,? perhaps alluding to the officiating which has been the subject of complaints by Talk ?N Text.

The scores:

First Game

PUREFOODS 95 ?J. Yap 28, Raymundo 16, R. Yap 16, Pingris 14, Reavis 9, Maierhofer 4, Allado 4, Artadi 2, Simon 2, Canaleta 0.

RAIN OR SHINE 85 ?Mercado 23, Norwood 20, Reyes 9, Chan 8, Arana 7, Cruz 6, Laure 6, Telan 4, Tang 2, Arellano 0, Hrabak 0.

Quarters: 25-26, 50-47, 80-66, 95-85

Second Game

BRGY. GINEBRA 113?Intal 28, Tubid 16, Menk 16, Wilson 14, Cruz 13, Villanueva 10, Salvacion 8, Baguio 3, Helterbrand 3, Caguioa 2.

TALK ?N TEXT 100?Cardona 21, Castro 18, Alapag 18, Dillinger 17, Peek 9, Carey 8, Ritualo 5, De Ocampo Y. 4, Belasco 0.

Quarters: 30-22, 55-49, 88-79, 113-100