Solomon Mercado was at his finest in overtime Wednesday night, scoring more points than he did for the whole of regulation in leading Rain or Shine to a 117-111 decision of the Llamados and to within another victory of the Fiesta Conference’s Final Four.

The stocky guard tossed in seven points in extension — including two back-breaking triples — as he took over yet again and decided the outcome for the Elasto Painters, who took a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five series before a big crowd that braved foul weather at the Araneta Coliseum.

Mercado whipped up a storm of his own, just hours after Typhoon Basyang devastated the metro, as he also finished with a career-high 15 assists that put the Painters on the threshold of making the first semifinal appearance in the young history of their franchise.

“I’m tired,” Mercado told reporters. “It was our heart that won the game for us, no doubt about it.” The Painters actually blew an early 18-point lead but never got disheartened when the going got tough in the second half as Rain or Shine took the best that Derby Ace gunslinger James Yap could offer to pound out the win.

Yap, the 2006 MVP, finished with 34 points on another hot shooting night, leading the Llamados back from 15-33 down in the first half as Derby Ace actually had a chance at winning the game by being 102-100 up with under 10 seconds remaining.

But Jervy Cruz hit a baby hook with five seconds remaining to tie the count and give Mercado the chance to win the game in extension after he had gotten most of his teammates involved in regulation with those assists.

“Right now we’re maturing already,” said coach Caloy Garcia of Rain or Shine. “And the good thing about this game is that we didn’t stop playing (even after losing a big lead).

“I guess it’s safe to say that momentum in our side,” he continued. “But the series is not yet over, and we still have a lot of work to do. But hopefully, we can pull that off.” Though it was Mercado who was the obvious hero in overtime, several faces stood out in regulation, with import Rod Nealy scattering 32 points aside from clearing 10 boards and Jeff Chan shooting 19 points in the first half to key the early breakaway.

Mercado scored the first seven points for the Painters in overtime and Chan knocked in two free throws after Yap had shoved the Llamados to within 111-113 with a triple as Rain or Shine, which lost to Purefoods, nee Derby Ace, in the Philippine Cup quarters, sealed the deal.

Barangay Ginebra lived to fight another day in its series with Alaska later in the night with a tightrope 91-87 victory that cut the Aces’ lead to 2-1 in their separate quarterfinal series.

Willie Miller turned 33 Wednesday, and his only wish was for Ginebra to play more as a team in their fight for survival.

As it turned out, Miller’s contributions were limited to cheering on the bench, as coach Jong Uichico dug deep and got a huge lift from the erstwhile forgotten JC Intal.

The former Ateneo ace in the UAAP came off the bench and exploded for 20 points, 12 of them in the third where the Gin Kings wrested complete control, as Ginebra now has the chance to equalize tomorrow at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.

“We gambled and it’s good that it paid off,” Uichico said. “They have been struggling, Mark, Willie, and there are other players who can take their spots and that’s exactly what happened today.” Averaging just seven minutes in the first two games of the series, Intal was the biggest reason why the Kings remained in the hunt, and Uichico now believes that his squad has the momentum to draw level and take this series to a deciding game.

“It’s been a close series and hopefully, we can take it all the way to Sunday,” he said.

Diamon Simpson led the Aces with 27 points and 13 rebounds.