Wednesday 13 April 2011

4 teams go for jugular in PBA q’final decider today

Posted by chardyboy on Wednesday, April 13, 2011 0 comments

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Games Wednesday:

Araneta Coliseum

5 p.m.- Alaska vs. Air21

7:30 p.m.- Brgy. Ginebra vs. Rain or Shine


IT’S a day of reckoning for four teams as the quarterfinal round of the 36th PBA Commissioner’s Cup ends today with a pair of do-or-die games at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Alaska Aces play the Air21 Express in the first game while the Barangay Ginebra Kings and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters meet in their own sudden-death showdown in the nightcap.

The Express and the Painters sent the two best-of-three series to a rubbermatch affair by scoring gutsy victories last Sunday.

The Express fought off the Aces’ endgame fightback to hack out a 94-84 win in Game Two. Air21 led by as many as 20 points in the third but saw that lead dwindle to two points in the dying minutes of the fourth.

The Express, however, found a way to escape with the win behind the clutch plays of import Alpha Bangura, who exploded for a game-high 40 points.

The Express dropped Game One, 89-91, in a game where they failed to protect a sizable nine-point lead in the final three minutes.

The Painters also had to weather the Kings’ endgame rally to pull off a 113-97 Game Two victory.

Rain or Shine lost Game One, 91-100, where import Hassan Adams was held to just 12 points.

Adams went unproductive anew in Game Two where he settled for just nine points but his anemic performance hardly mattered as locals Ronjay Buenafe, Larry Rodriguez, Ryan Arana, Doug Kramer and Gabe Norwood stepped up to help the Painters extend the series.

The Painters led by as many as 30 points but the Kings, known for their never-say-die attitude, threatened in the second half and trimmed the deficit to just seven points in the third.

With Adams on the bench, the Painters quelled the Kings’ rally by scoring the first eight points of the fourth.

The winner of the Rain or Shine-Ginebra series will play the Smart Gilas in the semifinals while Talk ‘N Text awaits the winner of the Alaska-Air21 matchup. /EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA

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