E-Painters dwarf Kings, share lead

MANILA, Philippines - Rain or Shine played tough and smart, setting the pace that it needed and wanted and hacked out a 94-86 win over Barangay Ginebra to clinch the third spot in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup playoffs last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Elasto Painters ran the tall Ginebra team to the ground as they duplicated their previous three-game run in the tourney and again forged a three-way tie in the lead with the Alaska Milk Aces and the San Miguel Beermen at 6-1.

The E-Painters stopped the Gin Kings’ own three-game streak and relegated Ginebra to seventh place at 4-4.

“We just played hard today, a little than usual, knowing Ginebra is a tough team with the winning streak. We had to run all game long. If we settled down for halfcourt game, our small size would be a big disadvantage,” said ROS coach Yeng Guiao.

“Size is their biggest advantage but quickness is ours. We pushed the pace and made it difficult for Greg Slaughter,” Guiao also said.

Jeff Chan, Jericho Cruz and Maverick Ahanmisi led the E-Painters’ charge and finished with at least 13 points apiece.

Sitting out the whole third quarter, Chan came out fresh in the final canto, rifling in tough shots to topscore for the team with 19.

The E-Painters blew a 13-point lead in the first half but re-established a huge margin in the third quarter and held on to stop the Gin Kings.

“We’re in a good place to be. And it’s good to go on a weeklong break tied in the lead,” said Guiao.

Earlier, backcourt aces Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle led five Globalport players with huge productions in a 120-105 rout of Blackwater that sent the Batang Pier to the threshold of the quarterfinals.

Romeo sparkled with 26 points and six rebounds while Pringle sizzled with 17 markers, six boards and the same number of assists as Globalport checked a two-game slump and moved back to the upper half of the chart at 4-3.

Also with big outputs from Doug Kramer, Rico Maierhofer and Joseph Yeo, the Batang Pier came through with their biggest output in a game in an all-Filipino tourney.

Kramer got away with 16 points and 15 rebounds while Maierhofer had 12 markers and 10 boards in rare double-double game helping Globalport deal Blackwater a sixth loss against a lone win.

“It was a total team effort. The guys came all out as we really needed to win to get up in the team standings,” said Globalport coach Pido Jarencio.