The B-Boys shut down offensive powerhouse Petron Blaze with mind-boggling ease Sunday night to win 80-70 and announce  that, despite a decimated lineup into the young PBA Philippine Cup, they are a force to be dealt with.

“Our battlecry going into this game was that we want to be the best,” a beaming Meralco coach, Ryan Gregorio, said. “And in order to be the best, I told my players that we have to beat the best.

“Defense will keep our boat afloat,” Gregorio went on. “And limiting such a strong offensive team like Petron to 70 (points), I think we deserve to win this one.” Petron came into the contest with an unbeaten record in three games, averaging close to 89 points a contest while playing fluid basketball on both ends.

Solomon Mercado returned from sick bay in a huge way, leading all Meralco shooters with 16 points, while veteran big man Asi Taulava, despite being a tad slow, hit six crucial points in the fourth period that helped quell a Petron comeback.

Mercado, who missed Meralco’s first three games because of a knee injury, hit a triple early in the fourth period which gave the B-Boys a 63-53 lead.

And it was all Meralco from there as Taulava dominated the inside like he used to a decade back and gave the B-Boys the lift they needed in the stretch.

Arwind Santos led the Boosters with 17 points and 13 rebounds, his fourth straight double-double, with rookie Chris Lutz contributing 16 markers.

Rain or Shine also announced its coming later in the night in a 120-84 drubbing of Alaska that further pronounced how lethargic the Aces have been of late, or most specifically, after losing coach Tim Cone prior to the start of the season.

Jeff Chan drilled in 20 markers and all 13 players who saw action for the Elasto Painters scored in the franchise’s biggest victory, which, fittingly enough, was the worst loss for Alaska since the 1992 Third Conference.

The previous worst setback for the Aces was a 94-62 loss at the hands of Shell, and this one came at a time when most everyone, including Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, was expecting Alaska to finally get its bearings together.

“I was worried that this might be the game that Alaska finally gets its bearings back,” Guiao, who was ejected in the third quarter because of a second technical foul, told reporters later. “We’re lucky it wasn’t tonight.” The Aces lost for the fourth straight game despite finally getting a big outing from starting guard LA Tenorio.

There simply was no fire in the Aces, who trailed by 14 after the first period and were never really factors the rest of the night.

On Saturday, Barangay Ginebra snapped a two-game losing streak in Victorias City, Negros Occidental after Mark Caguioa scored on a putback for a 73-72 victory over Powerade.

Caguioa was at the right place at the right time and capped a stirring comeback by the Gin Kings from five points down in the last 55 seconds as Ginebra rose to 2-3 overall.

Gary David, who came into that game shooting 14-of-15 free throws to lead the league, missed two charities in the final 14 seconds which could have given the Tigers, who dropped to 2-2, a three-point cushion.

And with no timeout left, Jay-Jay Helterbrand went coast-to-coast only to muff a layup and be bailed out by Caguioa for the game-winner.