Ginebra moves closer to finals berth

MANILA, Philippines – Barangay Ginebra moved a win away from earning a second straight trip to the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup Finals following a 96-85 rout of Rain or Shine in Game 5 of their semifinals duel Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum. Import David Noel dominated inside with 28 points and 17 rebounds while JayJay Helterbrand shot 5-of-8 from three point range to finish with 19 in the Kings’ second straight blowout win in the best-of-seven series. With a 3-2 lead, the Kings can close this one out and clinch a return trip ticket in the championship series of the season-ending meet with another win in Sunday’s Game 6 also at the Big Dome. The defending champions waxed hot from the outside, torching the Elasto Painters with their 12-of-32 three-point shooting. They led by as much as 18 points in the second period, but settled for a 49-34 halftime edge. Except for a brief spell in the third and later, in the early part of the final quarter when they cut the deficit to just 13 points, the Elasto Painters were never really in the game. For the second straight game, Rain or Shine shot poorly from downtown hitting 4-of-19 the entire match. Jai Lewis led Rain or Shine with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Tyrone Tang had 13 and Ryan Arana with a double-double of 13 and 10 rebounds. Inside the paint, the Elasto Painters outrebounded the Kings 56-44. But that did not help as Rain or Shine missed the scoring contribution of Rob Wainwright and Gabe Norwood. The two combined for just 15 points. Norwood eventually fouled out midway in the fourth after pushing Ginebra guard Paul Artadi. The Kings had their biggest lead at 92-69 following a three-pointer by Noel in the final four-minute mark. – GMANews.TV