source: PBA.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 16games, 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 theGiants 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.
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