Mark Caguioa of Ginebra (dark) vs Paul Lee of Rain or Shine (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines — Ginebra peeled away in the payoff period and dealt Rain or Shine its first loss 97-84 in the 2014 PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Kings started strong and finished even stronger, leading by 29-19 in the opening quarter then by as by as 19 points late in the game en route to a second win.
“We won because we had a great start. The effort, energy and hustle were there,” said head coach Ato Agustin after the game.
“Our defense was great. Even if Rain or Shine threatened to comeback we didn’t give up.”
Ginebra was only in front by a bucket with a minute left in the third quarter when JayR Reyes and Beau Belga got tangled up and figured in a minor scuffle.
And it seemed to have fired up the Kings, who zoomed away with a 21-4 run for an 85-66 lead after that and were never threatened anew.
Rookie Greg Slaughter came up big in the final period, scoring 10 of his 18 points and topped it with a game-best 13 rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Mark Caguioa led the Kings with 22 points. Japeth Aguilar added 19 markers and 10 boards.
The Elastopainters, despite knocking down nine triples and committing just 10 turnovers, played catch up for most of the match.
Ryan Arana had 21 points, 11 in the fourth, for Rain or Shine while Jeff Chan added 14 on four treys. Raymond Almazan played a better game with nine points and nine rebounds.
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