Purefoods finally ended Rain or Shine's Cinderella story in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup.

James Yap scored a game-high 28 points and Marc Pingris grabbed 16 rebounds, made 14 points, and provided the hustle and heart the Giants needed in disposing of the young Elasto Painters, 95-85, and winning the decisive game of their best-of-five quarterfinals series Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Giants next face no. 2 seed San Miguel Beermen in the best-of-seven semifinals beginning Wednesday.

"It's a great relief to finally beat Rain or Shine," said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio. "People thought this series was a breeze for us. But they (Painters) are quicker and younger than us, and at times in the series had bigger hearts than us. But not in tonight's game."

"I always felt that Rain or Shine is really, really a hard match-up for us," said Gregorio. "At least we finally made it to the Final Four."

James Yap sparked Purefoods offense in the third period, scoring 13 markers that helped Purefoods pad a three-point lead at the half to 80-64 in the dying seconds of the quarter.

The Elasto Painters never recovered from there as the closest they got was at 91-85.

James Yap then had a short basket and Raymundo hit a pair of free throws to push the Giants at 95-85 with only 1:37 remaining.

Sol Mercado scattered 23 points and Gabe Norwood had 20 for the Elasto Painters. - GMANews.TV

Scores

Purefoods 95 - Yap J. 28, Raymundo 16, Yap R. 16, Pingris 14, Reavis 9, Maierhofer 4, Allado 4, Artadi 2, Simon 2, Canaleta 0.

Rain or Shine 85 - Mercado 23, Norwood 20, Reyes 9, Chan 8, Arana 7, Cruz 6, Laure 6, Telan 4, Tang 2, Arellano 0, Hrabak 0.

Quarterscores: 25-26, 50-47, 80-66, 95-85.