Philippines- Rain or Shine wins to secure No. 3 spot

(MENAFN- Arab News) MANILA: There was a time when Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao was thinking of just surviving the eliminations of the PBA Governors' Cup.
Less than a month after sounding so defeated Guiao and his Elasto Painters are in the top four winning a sixth straight game on Sunday night to complete their rise from the doldrums at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Wendell McKines whom most everyone thought would be given his walking papers after Rain or Shine started out with a 1-4 record again stood at the forefront of the Elasto Painters' attack in hammering Meralco 96-89 for No. 3 seeding in the first round of the playoffs.
The bull-strong import scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and led the Painters in a torrid second half comeback as Rain or Shine closed out with a 7-4 record and would need to beat the No. 6 team just once in the quarterfinals to make the Final Four.
'I was on the verge of giving up on the top four we were just trying to survive' Guiao told reporters. 'I would have been happy just being in the top eight but we went on a streak and we had to adjust our expectations.
'But this is not over yet' he went on. 'We have to win one more to get to the semifinals and that is our next objective. The streak would be meaningless if we don't win one more.'
The Painters trailed by as large as 13 late in the first period and were down 46-56 at the half before putting it all together in the third and holding the fort in the stretch to frustrate the Bolts who bowed out of the twice-to-beat race.
Meralco which needed to win its last two games to have a shot at a top four finish dropped to 5-5 and would need to defeat KIA Motors on Tuesday to avoid taking on the No. 1 team in the quarterfinals.
The top four teams after the elimination round will need to beat lower-ranked foes just once to advance. Team Nos. 9-12 will get the boot.
As things stand Alaska after a tight win over San Miguel Beer on Saturday in Panabo City tabbed No. 1 seeding with the Beermen settling for No. 2.
Star the defending champion scored a 117-89 victory over Barako Bull in the first game made the playoffs with a 5-5 record and ousted idle NLEX from further contention.
The Road Warriors will still play Barangay Ginebra on Wednesday but the crowd-darling Gin Kings even with a win would most likely bow out because of the quotient system.
Star will have ousted Blackwater as its last foe on Tuesday and a win should Globalport lose to Alaska in an earlier game could even give the defending champion Hotshots No. 4 depending on their quotient with the Batang Pier.
Rain or Shine played without top defensive man Gabe Norwood and lost its second best defensive player Jireh Ibanes late in the second period after a flagrant foul 2 call on Meralco import Andre Emmet.
It was a development which Guiao described as a 'blessing in disguise' as he was forced to put McKines on his Meralco counterpart in the second half.
McKines not only scored 17 of his total in the final two quarters but defended Emmet well enough to help scuttle the Bolts who scored just 12 points in the third to yield the lead to Rain or Shine 70-68.
McKines and Jeff Chan then scored eight points each in the fourth period with Chan nailing a triple at the 4:00 mark for an 83-78 lead that more or less took the fight out of the hard-fighting Bolts.
Paul Lee scattered 12 points while Ibanes still finished with 10.
Emmet tossed in 33 for the Bolts who also got 14 points from Gary David and 12 from Jared Dillinger.