Painters buck poor shooting, nip Batang Pier

STANLEY Pringle (front) of Globalport loses his balance while trying to dribble past Rain or Shine’s TY Tang. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Rain or Shine survived a cold shooting night, riding the crucial hits by Jeff Chan to nip Globalport, 86-83, last night and stay in the upper half of the PBA Philippine Cup standings at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Chan, the national team gunner, scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth period, most of them when the game was on the line as the Elasto Painters dodged the upset axe and improved to 4-2 overall.

The loss was the third in six games for the Batang Pier, who played their best game of the young conference and fell just short of a franchise-best third straight win.

Barangay Ginebra shrugged off a wobbly start later in the night and finished off Barako Bull with a flurry, scoring a 94-75 victory to again grab solo second place with a 5-1 card.

Joseph Yeo hit four triples in the breakaway fourth quarter for the Gin Kings, who went on to deal the Energy a fifth consecutive defeat. Yeo, who was also one of the heroes in a win over Purefoods over the weekend, again scored 17 points.

Rain or Shine shot just 38 percent from the field and 61 percent from the free throw line, with five of its 12 missed charities coming inside the final six minutes that allowed the Batang Pier to hang around until the final buzzer.

“We made life difficult for ourselves by missing those free throws,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said.

Chan, one of the steadiest free throw shooters in the league, muffed a charity and Beau Belga misfired on four straight as the Painters failed to put the Batang Pier away.

It took three misses by Alex Cabagnot for Globalport inside the final minute to completely doom the Batang Pier, who came into the game riding the heels of their first winning streak under coach Pido Jarencio.

The scores

First Game

RAIN OR SHINE 86—Chan 16, Belga 12, Lee 11, Almazan 11, Cruz Jervy 10, Quiñahan 10, Ibañes 8, Cruz Jericho 4, Norwood 3, Teng 1, Tang 0.

GLOBALPORT 83—Cabagnot 20, Jensen 15, Pringle 14, De Ocampo 14, Semerad 8, Isip 6, Romeo 3, Buenafe 3, Baclao 0, Ponferada 0, Nabong 0, Taha 0, Caperal 0, Pinto 0.

Quarters: 23-20, 49-36, 63-70, 86-83

Second Game

BRGY. GINEBRA 94—Yeo 17, Caguioa 15, Slaughter 14, Baracael 12, Aguilar 10, Ellis 7, Brondial 7, Mamaril 4, Tenorio 4, Urbiztondo 2, Helterbrand 2, Monfort 0, Forrester 0, Reyes 0.

BARAKO BULL 75—Miranda 19, Garcia 10, Intal 10, Pennisi 9, Wilson 7, Lastimosa 6, Pascual 5, Marcelo 3, Hubalde 2, Salvador 2, Salva 2, Paredes 0, Lanete 0.

Quarters: 13-23, 37-42, 64-61, 94-75