Painters turn back Gin Kings

Rain or Shine clobbered Barangay Ginebra, 94-86, Sunday night to again regain a piece of the Smart Bro-PBA Philippine Cup’s elimination-round lead at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

“It’s a good place to be,” coach Yeng Guiao said, after the Elasto Painters caught idle Alaska and defending champion San Miguel Beer at the top at 6-1 with its third win in a row.

Jeff Chan hit 14 points in the fourth period and Jericho Cruz scored on a layup over the Gin Kings’ twin towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar to doom the Gin Kings, who dropped to 4-4 overall.

“We had to run all game long. Quickness is our biggest advantage and we had to push the pace (whenever we can).”

Earlier, Terrence Romeo scored 26 points, Stanley Pringle had 17 with six rebounds and six assists to power GlobalPort to a 120-105 victory over Blackwater that snapped the Batang Pier’s two-game losing streak.

Three more players scored in twin digits for the Batang Pier, who stayed in the upper half of the standings after rising to 4-3, while dealing the Elite a third straight defeat in a 1-6 card.

Chan finished with 19 points, highlighting his fourth quarter show with a deep corner jumper that drew a foul to boot from Aguilar which made it 94-84, time down to 41.7 seconds.

Ginebra giant Greg Slaughter beats Jewel Ponferada and Beau Belga of Rain or Shine to the rebound in last night’s game. AUGUST DELA CRUZ/INQUIRER

Cruz finished with 16 and rookie Maverick Ahanmisi continued to help plug the hole created by Paul Lee’s absence by shooting 13.

Aguilar paced the Kings with 22 points and Slaughter had 19.

“Our target is (to finish) No. 3 to 6 (after the eliminations),” said GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio.

The scores:

First Game

GLOBALPORT 120—Romeo 26, Pringle 17, Kramer 15, Yeo 14, Maierhofer 13, Washington 8, Jensen 6, Semerad 5, Sumang 5, Paniamogan 3, Taha 2, Uyloan 0.

BLACKWATER 105—Lastimosa 31, Reyes 16, Cervantes 11, Canada 10, Erram 9, Gamalinda 9, Dela Cruz 7, Cortez 6, Sena 4, Melano 2, Agovida 0, Ballesteros 0, Golla 0.

Quarters: 36-27, 64-59, 94-85, 120-105

Second Game

RAIN OR SHINE 94—Chan 19, Cruz 16, Ahanmisi 13, Belga 9, Norwood 8, Ponferada 7, Trollano 7, Ibanes 5, Quinahan 5, Tiu 3, Almazan 2, Matias 0, Nimes 0, Teng 0.

GINEBRA 86—Aguilar 22, Slaughter 19, Caguioa 11, Mercado 8, Thompson 7, Tenorio 6, Helterbrand 5, Cruz 4, Marcelo 4, Devance 0, Ellis 0, Mariano 0, Salva 0.

Quarters: 21-18, 39-39, 68-56, 94-86