MANILA — The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters secured a Top Four spot with the twice to beat advantage in the playoffs, beating the Meralco Bolts, 96-89, Sunday night in the PBA Governors' Cup for their sixth straight win. The Painters thus ended their elimination round campaign with a 7-4 win-loss slate, assuring themselves of the No. 3 seed going into the quarterfinals. The loss robbed Meralco the chance of joining the Top Four as it fell to an even 5-5 card, tying Star at sixth to seventh place in the standings. The Bolts could still enter the quarterfinals outright with a win against the Kia Carnival on Wednesday. The Painters turned again to Wendell McKines to deliver the goods on both ends of the court as the energetic import muscled his way to scoring 26 points, 17 of them in the second half when ROS overhauled a 13-point deficit to seize control of the game. The Painters outscored the Bolts, 50-33 in that period to clinch the win. McKines also sparkled on defense, handcuffing his explosive Meralco counterpart Andre Emmet in the second half. However, Emmet still topped all scorers by finishing with 33 points, most of them in the first half. The Painters won despite missing the services of Gabe Norwood, who had to fly to the US to attend the wedding of his brother, and Jireh Ibanes, who was ejected in the game late in the second quarter after committing a flagrant 2 foul against Emmet. The Bolts were still in the game up to the last few minuites, trailing by a single point, 77-76. But McKiness and Jeff Chan sparked a 12-2 run as the Painters finally pulled the plug on the Bolts. Star 117, Barako Bull 89 The defending Star Hotshots assured themselves of a playoff spot and could even clinch a Top Four finish after drubbing the Barako Bull Energy, 117-89. If Star beats tail-ender Blackwater on Tuesday and then GlobalPort loses to Alaska also on Tuesday, the Hotshots would end up tied with the Batang Pier and Energy at fourth to sixth spot, all with a 6-5 card. The PBA quotient system would then come into play to determine the seedings. With Star's 28-point victory, the Hotshots would then get the fourth seeding. The defeat was the fourth straight for the Energy as they ended their elimination round campaign with a 6-5 slate after an all-time franchise-best 6-1 start. Barako Bull could still make it to the Top Four provided Blackwater scores a huge upset win over Star Tuesday. Import Marqus Blakely paced the Hotshots with 33 points and eight rebounds. James Yap also came out sizzling hot, scoring 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Peter June Simon chipped in 15 while Alex Mallari and Alein Maliksi added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Games Tuesday: Star Hotshots vs. Blackwater Elite and Alaska Aces vs. GlobalPort Batang Pier.
