Games tomorrow: (Cuneta Astrodome)
4:00 p.m. – Air21 vs. Alaska
6:30 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs. Ginebra


REVIEWING the statistics, one would think there was something extra special Ginebra came up with defensively to neutralize Hassan Adams.

Kings’ coach Jong Uichico disagreed.

“He (Adams) just had a bad day,” Uichico said.

Ginebra made the most out of Adams’ worst game yet, breaking away in the second quarter before holding off Rain or Shine’s comeback in the final period in a 100-91 victory, moving to within a victory of advancing to the semi-final round of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Cuneta Astrodome.

“There was nothing technical in what we did against Adams,” said Uichico. “We just tried to limit him the best we could.”

Adams was limited to only 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting, his conference low. The import who once was described by Painters’ coach Yeng Guiao as ‘the best’ early in the tournament was also contained to only two points in the first half, the stretch when Ginebra led by as many as 16 points.

Nate Brumfield, in contrast, performed like an import should. He paced Ginebra with 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting and dished off four assists, Mark Caguioa contributed 20 points and Ronald Tubid 18 behind a hot 5-of-8 clip from three-point range as the Kings stepped on the brink of setting up a best-of-five Final Four duel with guest team Smart-Gilas.

But while the Kings may have succeeded holding down Adams the entire contest, the outcome didn’t come as easy as it looked.

Rain or Shine, which fell behind by 50-34 at the halftime break before trailing Ginebra by as large as 58-38, significantly chopped down the deficit to within 70-65 entering the fourth quarter behind a 9-0 run highlighted by a rare four-point play from Gabe Norwood.

The Painters, the sixth-seed in the quarter-finals, were also just behind by 76-70 when things started to become ugly once again.

Brumfield scored six straight points after Erik Menk converted on an attempt, and Ginebra stormed ahead on safer grounds again, 84-70 with 7:16 left to play.

For Uichico, the series is far from over, though.

“One game pa lang ‘yan,” he said. “We need one more win to get into the next round. We don’t want to relax at this point. And we should come into Sunday’s game thinking that the series is still 0-0.”

Larry Rodriguez led the Painters with 20 points,, Norwood had 18 points and nine rebounds, while Beau Belga added 11 points.

The victory gave Ginebra a 4-0 record against Rain or Shine this season. The Kings have also won eight of their last nine meetings with the Painters including the 2009-2010 season.

Ginebra, the No. 3 seed after the nine-game elimination round, actually needed a big run in the second period to create the distance it wanted. Only up by 31-29, the Kings unleashed a 19-5 assault to close first half of play clutching a 50-34 advantage.

The Kings appeared to tear the game wide open when Mike Cortez, who wound up with a personal conference-high 14 points, drained a three-point shot to give the franchise a 58-38 lead with 9:22 left in the third period.

But the Painters fought back in the same quarter, with Adams and Norwood combining for 15 of Rain or Shine’s 31 points in the period to make things interesting going into the pivotal fourth quarter.

“We didn’t execute well in the third quarter,” said Uichico. “We held them to 34 points in the first half but they still finished with 91 points.”

The scores

Ginebra (100) — Brumfield 24, Caguioa 20, Tubid 18, Cortez 14, Menk 6, Hatfield 6, Aquino 5, Miller 5, Mamaril 2, Intal 0.

Rain or Shine (91) — Rodriguez 20, Norwood 18, Adams 12, Belga 11, Kramer 10, Tang 7, Vanlandingham 5, Arana 4, Chan 3, Cruz 1, Jazul 0, Buenafe 0, Ferriols 0.

Quarterscores: 26-23, 50-34, 70-65, 100-91