Purefoods 101, Rain or Shine 88 (From PBA.com.ph)
KG Canaleta propped Purefoods past gritty Rain or Shine 101-88 Sunday, keeping the Giants' hopes for an automatic semifinals seat alive in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Canaleta scattered 14 of his 15 points inside the last 13 minutes of play that gave immeasurable boost to a Purefoods team that almost squandered what was once a 19-point lead.
In the end, the spark Canaleta gave propped the Giants to their 10th win in 16 games.
Should Purefoods win its remaining games against Alaska and Sta. Lucia Realty, then it has a chance for the No. 2 slot behind 13-3 San Miguel Beer and the remaining outright semis seat that comes with it.
The Giants could even grab the berth outright provided the 11-3 Aces and 10-6 Talk ‘N Text do not win any of their own remaining games. The Tropang Texters are taking on cellar-dweller Barako Bull later Sunday.
“It's really tight at the upper half of the standings and we really didn't want to lose the opportunity to have a crack at the second semis slot. As long as there's light we'll continue to pursue it,” said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.
Even missing the slot and being relegated to an outright quarterfinals slot, reserved for the third to fifth placers after the 18-game eliminations, is still fine with Gregorio.
“At this point, an automatic quarterfinals slot is something really worth working for. But as I told the boys, we must elevate our goal. In case we miss the semis at least we're still in the quarters and that's still a good place to be,” he explained.
Rain or Shine was looking for a win that will assure it of a place in the wildcard phase. Now, with a second straight loss that was also its 12th in 16 games, it is in danger of being caught by chasers Coca-Cola, 3-12, and 2-13 Barako Bull.
The 10th-placed team makes an early exit while the sixth to ninth teams go through the knockout wildcard.
Led by Gabe Norwood's career-high 29 points, the Elasto Painters did put up one whale of a fight that saw them whittle what was a daunting deficit to just 63-67, 2:21 left in the third period.
But there was simply too much Purefoods, typified by Canaleta's explosion.
“It's always hard to play against Rain or Shine. They have the personnel, but they just couldn't close out games,” said Gregorio.
“We were really expecting them to make a run, and they did. That team has so much pride. When we were starting to miss our shots, we turned to Canaleta and he scored 14 in the second half.
“That is just basketball. They make a run and we weather the storm and tonight we were able to do it.”
The 6-foot-4 former Slam Dunk King drained a set triple and hit a baseline runner, before James Yap's buzzer-beating triple from 24 feet gave the Giants a 75-64 lead.
James Yap had another triple that put Purefoods safely ahead, 94-75, only 4:02 left in the game.
The 2006 MVP wound up with 23 points with Kerby Raymundo adding 22 and Roger Yap 14, eight rebounds and four assists.
Sol Mercado's 20 points and eight assists led those who backstopped Norwood, who also had seven rebounds and five assists, but went dry despite playing the entire fourth period.
It was all Norwood for RoS in the early goings.
Last year's Rookie of the Year already had 21 points in the first half but did not get much support as the Elasto Painters found themselves trailing by 31-50 and 35-52 at the half.
The scores:
Purefoods 101 - Yap J. 23, Raymundo 22, Canaleta 15, Yap R. 14, Maierhofer 9, Allado 6, Pingris 5, Artadi 4, Timberlake 3, Reavis 0.
Rain or Shine 88 - Norwood 29, Mercado 20, Chan 12, Hrabak 11, Telan 9, Laure 4, Cruz 2, Arana 1, Alfad 0, Arellano 0, Tang 0, Reyes 0.
Quarterscores: 31-15, 52-35, 75-64, 101-88.
Barako Bulls 99, Talk N Text 97 (From PBA.com.ph)
Barako Bull had never lost hopes it would eventually win again despite a long spell of over two months.
The Energy Boosters finally did Sunday night, pulling the rug from under the Talk n Text Tropang Texters, 99-97, at the Araneta Coliseum.
“Pumipitik-pitik pa,” said Barako Bull coach Leo Isaac as they came through with the nail-biter of a win keeping the team in the fight for the wildcard round.
“Looking back, one would see this game was long overdue. Di lang talaga natatapat. Ngayon lang natapat yung inaabangan namin na hindi kami mapipigilan manalo,” Isaac also said.
Richard Alonzo scored a career-high 23 points, Leo Najorda added a personal season-high 21 points and the entire Barako team watched the Texters self-destruct at the finish, allowing the Boosters to escape with their first win in 10 weeks.
“Ang tagal na namin inaabangan ito. At least now with the win, our fate is still in our control. Bakbakan kami ng Coca-Cola in our last game in the elimination round,” said Isaac.
Going into the last stretch of the elims, Burger King (5-11), Rain or Shine (4-12), Coca-Cola (3-12) and Barako Bull (3-13) are still locked in a tough fight for the last three slots in the wildcard round.
Talk n Text, meanwhile, lost crucial grounds in the battle in the upper half of the chart in dropping its last two games.
At 10-7, the Texters need to win their last game against the San Miguel Beermen to get a shot at a Top Five finish.
The Texters gallantly fought back from an 11-point deficit in the last five minutes of play only to bungle cracks at overtime on missed close stabs by Harvey Carey and Ranidel de Ocampo in the closing seconds.
Still down by five, 91-96, in the last 52 seconds, the Texters came back to life on back-to-back triples by De Ocampo and Jimmy Alapag.
A split from the stripe by Jojo Duncil made it 99-97 with time down to 15.7 seconds.
Then came the shockers for the Texters.
First, Carey missed a shot from underneath on a feed by Alapag.
With the refs calling a jumpball, Talk n Text got another crack at overtime with the Texters regaining possession on the tip.
This time, Carey fumbled a pass by Alapag. The Texters once again regained possession but eventually lost the game on a missed short shot by De Ocampo.
Felix Belano and Jojo Duncil were the other Boosters finishing in double figures with 13 and 10 respectively.
Alapag and Jason Castro, meanwhile, paced the Texters with a combined output of 45 points.
Mark Cardona, the league leading scorer, struggled for a second straight game, bleeding for eight points against the Boosters.
Alonzo had his best game in the pros, going perfect from the field (8-of-8) and from the lane (3-of-3) in the first three quarters of play.
Curiously, he didn’t finish their last game against San Miguel Friday as he sustained a cut on the lips that needed to be stitched. (SB)
The scores:
Barako Bull 99 - Alonzo 23, Najorda 21, Belano 13, Duncil 10, Crisano 9, Menor 6, Reyes 6, Dimaunahan 6, Fernandez 3, Aljamal 2, Chia 0.
Talk N' Text 97 - Alapag 23, Castro 22, De Ocampo R. 17, Carey 10, Cardona 8, Escobal 5, Dillinger 4, Peek 2, Ritualo 2, De Ocampo Y. 2, Belasco 2.
Quarterscores: 22-22, 41-47, 69-69, 99-97
KG Canaleta propped Purefoods past gritty Rain or Shine 101-88 Sunday, keeping the Giants' hopes for an automatic semifinals seat alive in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Canaleta scattered 14 of his 15 points inside the last 13 minutes of play that gave immeasurable boost to a Purefoods team that almost squandered what was once a 19-point lead.
In the end, the spark Canaleta gave propped the Giants to their 10th win in 16 games.
Should Purefoods win its remaining games against Alaska and Sta. Lucia Realty, then it has a chance for the No. 2 slot behind 13-3 San Miguel Beer and the remaining outright semis seat that comes with it.
The Giants could even grab the berth outright provided the 11-3 Aces and 10-6 Talk ‘N Text do not win any of their own remaining games. The Tropang Texters are taking on cellar-dweller Barako Bull later Sunday.
“It's really tight at the upper half of the standings and we really didn't want to lose the opportunity to have a crack at the second semis slot. As long as there's light we'll continue to pursue it,” said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.
Even missing the slot and being relegated to an outright quarterfinals slot, reserved for the third to fifth placers after the 18-game eliminations, is still fine with Gregorio.
“At this point, an automatic quarterfinals slot is something really worth working for. But as I told the boys, we must elevate our goal. In case we miss the semis at least we're still in the quarters and that's still a good place to be,” he explained.
Rain or Shine was looking for a win that will assure it of a place in the wildcard phase. Now, with a second straight loss that was also its 12th in 16 games, it is in danger of being caught by chasers Coca-Cola, 3-12, and 2-13 Barako Bull.
The 10th-placed team makes an early exit while the sixth to ninth teams go through the knockout wildcard.
Led by Gabe Norwood's career-high 29 points, the Elasto Painters did put up one whale of a fight that saw them whittle what was a daunting deficit to just 63-67, 2:21 left in the third period.
But there was simply too much Purefoods, typified by Canaleta's explosion.
“It's always hard to play against Rain or Shine. They have the personnel, but they just couldn't close out games,” said Gregorio.
“We were really expecting them to make a run, and they did. That team has so much pride. When we were starting to miss our shots, we turned to Canaleta and he scored 14 in the second half.
“That is just basketball. They make a run and we weather the storm and tonight we were able to do it.”
The 6-foot-4 former Slam Dunk King drained a set triple and hit a baseline runner, before James Yap's buzzer-beating triple from 24 feet gave the Giants a 75-64 lead.
James Yap had another triple that put Purefoods safely ahead, 94-75, only 4:02 left in the game.
The 2006 MVP wound up with 23 points with Kerby Raymundo adding 22 and Roger Yap 14, eight rebounds and four assists.
Sol Mercado's 20 points and eight assists led those who backstopped Norwood, who also had seven rebounds and five assists, but went dry despite playing the entire fourth period.
It was all Norwood for RoS in the early goings.
Last year's Rookie of the Year already had 21 points in the first half but did not get much support as the Elasto Painters found themselves trailing by 31-50 and 35-52 at the half.
The scores:
Purefoods 101 - Yap J. 23, Raymundo 22, Canaleta 15, Yap R. 14, Maierhofer 9, Allado 6, Pingris 5, Artadi 4, Timberlake 3, Reavis 0.
Rain or Shine 88 - Norwood 29, Mercado 20, Chan 12, Hrabak 11, Telan 9, Laure 4, Cruz 2, Arana 1, Alfad 0, Arellano 0, Tang 0, Reyes 0.
Quarterscores: 31-15, 52-35, 75-64, 101-88.
Barako Bulls 99, Talk N Text 97 (From PBA.com.ph)
Barako Bull had never lost hopes it would eventually win again despite a long spell of over two months.
The Energy Boosters finally did Sunday night, pulling the rug from under the Talk n Text Tropang Texters, 99-97, at the Araneta Coliseum.
“Pumipitik-pitik pa,” said Barako Bull coach Leo Isaac as they came through with the nail-biter of a win keeping the team in the fight for the wildcard round.
“Looking back, one would see this game was long overdue. Di lang talaga natatapat. Ngayon lang natapat yung inaabangan namin na hindi kami mapipigilan manalo,” Isaac also said.
Richard Alonzo scored a career-high 23 points, Leo Najorda added a personal season-high 21 points and the entire Barako team watched the Texters self-destruct at the finish, allowing the Boosters to escape with their first win in 10 weeks.
“Ang tagal na namin inaabangan ito. At least now with the win, our fate is still in our control. Bakbakan kami ng Coca-Cola in our last game in the elimination round,” said Isaac.
Going into the last stretch of the elims, Burger King (5-11), Rain or Shine (4-12), Coca-Cola (3-12) and Barako Bull (3-13) are still locked in a tough fight for the last three slots in the wildcard round.
Talk n Text, meanwhile, lost crucial grounds in the battle in the upper half of the chart in dropping its last two games.
At 10-7, the Texters need to win their last game against the San Miguel Beermen to get a shot at a Top Five finish.
The Texters gallantly fought back from an 11-point deficit in the last five minutes of play only to bungle cracks at overtime on missed close stabs by Harvey Carey and Ranidel de Ocampo in the closing seconds.
Still down by five, 91-96, in the last 52 seconds, the Texters came back to life on back-to-back triples by De Ocampo and Jimmy Alapag.
A split from the stripe by Jojo Duncil made it 99-97 with time down to 15.7 seconds.
Then came the shockers for the Texters.
First, Carey missed a shot from underneath on a feed by Alapag.
With the refs calling a jumpball, Talk n Text got another crack at overtime with the Texters regaining possession on the tip.
This time, Carey fumbled a pass by Alapag. The Texters once again regained possession but eventually lost the game on a missed short shot by De Ocampo.
Felix Belano and Jojo Duncil were the other Boosters finishing in double figures with 13 and 10 respectively.
Alapag and Jason Castro, meanwhile, paced the Texters with a combined output of 45 points.
Mark Cardona, the league leading scorer, struggled for a second straight game, bleeding for eight points against the Boosters.
Alonzo had his best game in the pros, going perfect from the field (8-of-8) and from the lane (3-of-3) in the first three quarters of play.
Curiously, he didn’t finish their last game against San Miguel Friday as he sustained a cut on the lips that needed to be stitched. (SB)
The scores:
Barako Bull 99 - Alonzo 23, Najorda 21, Belano 13, Duncil 10, Crisano 9, Menor 6, Reyes 6, Dimaunahan 6, Fernandez 3, Aljamal 2, Chia 0.
Talk N' Text 97 - Alapag 23, Castro 22, De Ocampo R. 17, Carey 10, Cardona 8, Escobal 5, Dillinger 4, Peek 2, Ritualo 2, De Ocampo Y. 2, Belasco 2.
Quarterscores: 22-22, 41-47, 69-69, 99-97
Standings
| Team | W | L | PCT |
| San Miguel | 13 | 3 | 0.812 |
| Alaska | 11 | 3 | 0.786 |
| Ginebra | 11 | 6 | 0.647 |
| Purefoods | 10 | 6 | 0.625 |
| Talk N Text | 10 | 7 | 0.588 |
| Sta. Lucia | 9 | 6 | 0.600 |
| Burger King | 5 | 11 | 0.312 |
| Rain or Shine | 4 | 12 | 0.250 |
| Coca-Cola | 3 | 12 | 0.200 |
| Barako Bull | 3 | 13 | 0.188 |
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