MANILA: Macmac Cardona rained down 35 points, including the winning basket, to lead the Meralco Bolts to a nail-biting 125-124 win against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters after three overtime periods in the last elimination round game of the 2010-2011 PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. With the win, its seventh in 14 games, Meralco avoided falling into No. 7 or 8 spot that would have the handicap of winning over the top two seeds twice in the playoffs to stay alive. The Bolts ended up as the fifth seed and will face No. 4 seed and defending champions B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados in a best-of-three quarterfinals series. Cardona unleashed a semi-hook off three defenders with 4.7 seconds to go for the win after three overtime periods. With the loss, Rain or Shine slid to eighth spot as it ended the elims with a 5-9 win-loss slate. The Painters thus face the No. 1 seed Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters who carry a twice-to-beat advantage. The second seed San Miguel Beermen also enjoy such an advantage as they are pitted against seventh seed Air21 Express (6-8). In the first match of the double-header, the Alaska Aces repeated over the also-rans Powerade Tigers, 86-78, to secure the sixth spot and will go up against No. 3 seed Barangay Ginebra Kings in a best-of-three quarterfinals series. Alaska ended the elims with a 7-7 card in a tie with Meralco and Derby Ace, but the three teams' quotients determined their rankings. Cyrus Baguio uncorked 21 points on top of nine rebounds to make the biggest splash for the Aces. Sonny Thoss added 14 and 11 rebounds, Joe Devance had 12 and LA Tenorio chipped in 10 and five assists. Overshadowed by the Alaska win was the exploits of Powerade rookie Sean Anthony who exploded for a career-high 29 points. With the loss, their eighth consecutive and 11th overall against just three wins, the Tigers tied the Barako Bull Energy Boosters, another eliminated team, at the bottom of the standings. The playoffs begin Friday with Meralco and Derby Ace playing at 5 P.M. then Alaska and Ginebra squaring off at 7:30 P.M. at the Araneta Coliseum.
