MANILA — The Petron Blaze Boosters got a huge scare from sister team Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings before settling for a 101-94 victory Thursday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in the PBA Governors' Cup quarterfinals. Petron thus arranged a best-of-five semifinals duel with the defending champion Rain or Shine Elasto Painters who earlier defeated the GlobalPort Batang Pier, 108-106, in Thursday night's quarterfinals double-header. With Petron up by 25 points, 74-49, in the third quarter, the Kings uncorked a 15-0 run capped by a three-pointer by LA Tenorio. The Boosters refused to be cowed though as they padded their lead back to 14 points, 83-69, heading into the fourth quarter. But the Kings stayed hot despite losing top gunner Mark Caguioa to a knee injury yet again in the second quarter. They opened the final quarter with a 19-6 blast to come to within a hairline, 88-89. The Boosters would not be denied their ninth straight victory though as they finished the match with a 9-0 run of their own to finally send the tired Kings out of the playoffs. Ginebra played its fourth game in six days after figuring in a knockout match with Talk ‘N Text for the last quarterfinals berth two days ago. Petron coach Gee Abanilla said it was sheer luck that got them through. “I think we just got lucky because we were playing a very tired Ginebra team,” Abanilla said. Import Elijah Millsap led the Boosters with a triple-double for the second straight game, finishing with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists. Rookie center June Mar Fajardo also dominated the shaded area, scoring 20 points on 9-out-of-10 shooting from the field. Arwind Santos contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds. Ginebra import Dior Lowhorn led all scorers with 31 points. He also grabbed 13 boards. LA Tenorio added 20 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Josh Urbiztondo came off the bench to knock in14 points, including four three-pointers that allowed the Kings to catch up with the Boosters in the homestretch. Earlier, Rain or Shine Elasto Painters teetered on the brink of defeat before unleashing a furious assault in the endgame to vanquish the GlobalPort Batang Pier. Rain or Shine won despite a horrendous 27-of-43 shooting from the free throw line. GlobalPort was led by import Markeith Cumming,s who scored 29 points, and Sol Mercado, who chipped in 22 points. But the duo also spelled doom for their squad as they combined for 11 of Globalport's 15 turnovers in the match.
