Lee lifts Painters past Carnival

RAIN or Shine’s Raymond Almazan dunks off KIA’s Hamady N’Diyae and Mark Yee in their PBA game last night. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Paul Lee hit the last eight Rain or Shine points from the free throw line and keyed a 94-90 win over KIA Motors Wednesday night that kept the Elasto Painters’ top four bid in the PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs alive at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

The 6-foot Lee went 10-for-10 from the stripe as the Painters won a fifth straight game in rising to 6-4 that allowed them to stay on track of a twice-to-beat privilege in the first round of the playoffs.

Behind the 7-foot-2 Hamady N’Diyae, the Carnival gave the Painters a great fight before going down to 4-5 that ruined their own twice-to-beat bid but kept them in the fight for a first ever playoff appearance.

Barangay Ginebra stayed in the running for a quarterfinal berth later in the night after breaking away in the fourth period for a 120-98 win over Barako Bull.

Orlando Johnson scored 41 points and five others tossed in 10 or better as the Gin Kings improved to 4-6 and could claim a berth in the bottom half of the draw with a win over NLEX later this week.

With their third straight loss, the Energy fell to 6-4.

THE SCORES:

RAIN OR SHINE 94—McKines 24, Lee 20, Uyloan 8, Cruz 8, Ibanes 7, Belga 7, Almazan 6, Quinahan 5, Norwood 3, Tiu 3, J. Cruz 2, Chan 1, Teng 0, Tang 0.

KIA 90—N’Diaye 31, Dehesa 19, Buensuceso 7, Nuyles 6, Chang 6, Yee 6, Bagatsing 6, Revilla 4, Avenido 3, Alvarez 2, Webb 0, Pascual 0.

Quarters: 12-15, 43-40, 68-66, 94-90

Second Game

BARANGAY GINEBRA 120—Johnson 41, Mercado 14, Monfort 12, Aguilar 12, Kim 12, Brondial 10, Slaughter 9, Marcelo 5, Tenorio 3, Pena 2, Baracael 0.

BARAKO BULL 98—McMorrow 32, Yeo 18, Pascual 14, Intal 13, Garcia 10, Lanete 8, Hubalde 2, Sorongon 1, Forrester 0, Ababou 0, Salvador 0, Salva 0, Chua 0, Wilson 0, Maierhofer 0.

Quarters: 31-28, 49-49, 81-77, 120-98