MANILA, Philippines — Barangay Ginebra broke away in the fourth quarter to rout Rain or Shine, 98-80 en route to clinching the last twice-to-beat incentive for the quarterfinals on Sunday at the end of the PBA Philippine Cup elimination round at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Stephen Holt PBA PHOTO
The Gin Kings outscored the Elasto Painters, 24-13 in the final period to pull away for good and close the elims with an 8-3 record.
The league’s most popular squad ended in a four-way tie with San Miguel, NLEX and Magnolia after finishing with similar records, sealed the fourth seed owing to a more inferior quotient.
SMB captured the no. 1 seed, thanks to its 126-91 spanking of NorthPort earlier in the day. NLEX gets the second seed, followed by Magnolia.
Ginebra plays Converge in the opening round of the playoffs, which starts this coming Wednesday.
Filipino-American Stephen Holt led the Gin Kings with 27 points and 12 rebounds.
Big man Japeth Aguilar also registered a double-double kf 18 points and 10 rebounds while Jamie Malonzo chipped in 15 and 10 boards.
Adrian Nocum and Leonard Santillan led Rain or Shine with 13 points apiece.
ROS falls into seventh seed in the playoffs and will face no. 2 ranked NLEX.
