MANILA: After a cold start, the Petron Blaze Boosters caught fire in the second quarter and never let up to scorch the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 100-89, on a rainy Sunday night in the PBA Governor's Cup. Center Rabeh Al-Hussaini lorded over the paint, scoring 21 points and grabbing seven rebounds, to lead the Boosters to their second win in three games. Import Jeremy Wise also tallied 21 points as his streak shooting continued from their last game. Seldom-used backup center Mick Pennisi chipped in with 14 points while Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot had 13 and 11 markers respectively. The Boosters hardly missed the services of their injured ace gunner Jay Washington as they took advantage of the Kings' crippled frontcourt with the loss of Enrico Villanueva and Billy Mamaril to injuries and the departure of Rudy Hatfield. In the first match of the Araneta Coliseum double-header, the top-seeded Talk N Text Tropang Texters had little difficulty in disposing the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 120-108, despite the absence of injured starting point guard Jimmy Alapag. Jason Castro and import Maurice Baker scored 22 points each to lead the Texters to their second straight win as they joined the idle Meralco Bolts at the top of the leader board.
