Rain or Shine bags finals slot; Ginebra, B-Meg dispute No. 2

There’s a non-traditional team in the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals.
Rain or Shine ripped B-Meg 92-82 last night to become the season-ending tournament’s first finalist as the Elasto Painters put a different flavor in a title series for the first time in what seems like ages in the league.
Jeff Chan scored 25 points and the Painters used a 23-point third quarter lead as buffer in the stretch to cushion a hard finish by the Llamados before more than 14,000 fans at the Araneta Coliseum.
“This is really satisfying,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, who won titles with Swift, Pop Cola and Red Bull before, said after the victory that made his Painters finish with a 10-4 card even with just their second win in the semifinals.
“Relatively, we are a small team compared to the others,” he continued. “And in making the Finals for the first time in our existence, we would be making the best out of this opportunity.” The Painters will still await a Finals foe as B-Meg will clash with sister squad Barangay Ginebra for the second seat after the Gin Kings pounded out a 73-71 win over Talk ‘N Text in the nightcap.
Talk ‘N Text, after defending champion Petron Blaze, became the second traditional power to be eliminated, finishing with an 8-6 tally for fourth place in coach Chot Reyes’ last conference calling the shots.
Ginebra and B-Meg slug it out tomorrow after both squads wound up with 9-5 records.
Mark Caguioa, who could very well be named the MVP if the Kings do make the best-of-seven series opposite the Painters, scored 18 points and had eight rebounds against the Texters.
That production was a far cry from the three free throws that he was able to contribute in a 90-98 loss to the Llamados on Sunday, and, with the adrenaline still high, Caguiao announced on national television that “we are going to beat them (Llamados) on Friday.”
The loss was just the second in 11 total do-or-die games for the Texters this season, with the only other setback coming at the hands of the Llamados in Game 7 of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
Jamelle Cornley had 16 points for the Painters, who came into the game the losers of their last two games and who weren’t really given an even chance of turning back the Llamados.
But a hot start and an even hotter third period had the Painters playing with command and they had all the confidence even when the Llamados doggedly tried to turn the game around in the fourth.
B-Meg came within six points with under two minutes left but the lack of a solid game from former two-time MVP James Yap and the likes of Marc Pingris told on them heavily.
Even Marcus Blakely struggled offensively for the Llamados, finishing with just 18 markers, which was way below his average in the semifinals. Yap was held to just 12 and PJ Simon, B-Meg’s super sub, had just nine.
Kerby Raymundo, the former B-Meg all-star, hit a triple with under a minute left which proved to be the marginal basket for the Kings after the Texters bungled a golden chance with 15.9 seconds left.
Paul Harris stepped on the baseline while going on a drive in the potential game-tying play for the Texters, who will miss the Finals for the first time in the last six conferences.
“There is no time to celebrate this win because we will be back on the floor in two days against B-Meg,” Caguioa, added. “They have played us well this year and we haven’t had much success against them.”