By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters relied on a crippling endgame run to defeat the TNT Tropang Giga, 121-113, in Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, May 12.

After seeing their 106-97 lead turned to a 109-111 deficit, the Painters went on a 10-0 run — a layup by Leonard Santillan, a triple by Jhonard Clarito, an inside hit by Adrian Nocum, and an outside hit by Andrei Caracut, for a 119-111 lead.

The Tropang Giga attempted to make their last push as Jayson Castro sailed to the basket for a layup, but a counter basket from Caracut with less than a minute left sealed the win for the Painters.

Clarito finished with 29 points, including a perfect 5-of-5 three-point shooting, to go with seven rebounds and four assists as the Painters forced a do-or-die Game 3 after tying the best-of-three series at 1-1.

Caracut added 21 markers with two outside shots, Santillan and Nocum contributed 20 points apiece, and Gian Mamuyac provided spark in the second half with 12 markers for the Painters.

Roger Pogoy top-scored with 28 points, Castro added 17 markers, while rookie Kim Aurin and Glenn Khobuntin ended with 15 and 13 points, respectively, for the Tropang Giga.

Meanwhile, Chris Banchero caught fire in the fourth quarter as the Meralco Bolts kicked out sister team NLEX Road Warriors, 100-81, in Game 2 of their best-of-three quarterfinals series.

Holding to a slim 76-70 lead after three quarters, the Bolts pulled away in the final period with consecutive points from Banchero to stretch the advantage to 86-75 with over seven minutes left.

Meralco’s run continued with more conversions from Bachero, followed by attacks from Clifford Hodge and Kier John Quinto for the largest lead of 22 points at 100-78 with less than two minutes left.

Banchero tallied 23 points, with 16 coming in the final quarter, to go with seven rebounds and six assists for the Bolts, which will face the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in the best-of-seven semifinals./ASC, WDJ

RAIN OR SHINE 121 — Clarito 29, Caracut 21, Santillan 20, Nocum 20, Mamuyac 12, Belga 6, Datu 6, Demusis 3, Ildefonso 2, Norwood 2, Asistio 0, Borboran 0.

TNT 113 — Pogoy 28, Castro 17, Aurin 15, Khobuntin 13, Oftana 11, Williams 11, B. Ganuelas-Rosser 5, Montalbo 5, Ponferrada 4, Varilla 4, Heruela 0, Galinato 0.

Quarterscores: 25-31, 62-64, 95-95, 121-113.