Elimination round topnotcher Tanduay Rhum, as expected, booked the first berth in the Alaxan PBA All-Filipino Cup semifinals, dealing Barangay Ginebra a severe beating last night at the PhilSports Arena.
Unleashing the full weight of their awesome might and power, the Rhum Masters put the game away against the hapless Gin Kings early and completed a 101-78 blowout much to the disappointment of the Ginebra fans in the venue.
Sonny Alvarado, facing another eligibility battle with the Bureau of Immigration, unleashed a big game with 23 points and 24 rebounds, helping the Rhum Masters hack out the emphatic win that gave them a crack at the finals against either the Purefoods Hotdogs and the Sta. Lucia Realtors.
"We had in our mind what Ginebra did to Mobiline. Pero ang sabi namin sa sarili namin mangyayari sa amin ang nangyari sa Mobiline kung hahayaan namin ito (But we told ourselves that we'd suffer Mobiline's fate if we let it happen)," said Tanduay coach Alfrancis Chua, recalling Ginebra's upset of then top-seeded Mobiline in their quarterfinal matchup last year.
Chua also said they were not aware of the news about Alvarado. "If they have questions on Sonny's papers, I'm sure the management can answer that," he said.
Eric Menk likewise dished off a solid performance, tallying a game-high 28 points that went with 10 rebounds, one steal and one block in 32 minutes of action.
Alvarado and Menk went in full throttle from the opening buzzer with the amazing duo outscoring and outbrebounding the entire Ginebra team in the first half of play.
Tanduay's 1-2 punch had 35 points and 23 rebounds to the Gin Kings'26 points and 18 rebounds in the first 24 minutes of the game.
The Rhum Masters sat on a 55-26 cushion at halftime and even padded it to 84-43 before the team slowed down a little with Chua calling his shock-troopers to finish the job. -