MANILA : After more than 14 months, Blackwater and Mahindra locked horns again in the PBA Philippine Cup.

And unlike in their first clash where what was at stake was a good start, the Elite ground out a victory over the Enforcers for what was a better ending to both squads’ first tournament for the second season.

Veteran point guard Mike Cortez scored 30 points and Bam-Bam Gamalinda and Reil Cervantes also stepped up during critical times in the second half as the Elite posted a 108-99 victory over Mahindra (formerly KIA) for the last playoff berth at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

The win was the second in the last three games for the Elite, who finished with a 3-8 record overall and sent off the Enforcers into a long holiday break with Mahindra finishing with a 2-9 record for 11th spot.

Only Meralco, which won just one of 11 elimination round games, has a worse record than the Enforcers.

“Going into the playoffs is a big thing for the whole team,” Blackwater coach Leo Isaac told reporters later, minutes after almost seeing a 20-point lead vanish in the waning minutes after a Mahindra rally had the Enforcers coming with five.

“Hopefully, we can continue to develop (with this playoff stint) and get better (for the coming tournaments,” Isaac added.

Mahindra and Blackwater entered the league at the same time as expansion clubs last season and are in a race as to who would be better as a team the earliest.

The win put the Elite into a collision course with rock-solid Rain or Shine in the first phase of the quarterfinals that starts on Wednesday with Blackwater needing to beat the third-ranked Elasto Painters two straight times to march on.

“We’ll try to do our very best,” Isaac said of the coming game against the Painters. “I’ sure they’re angry for not making the semifinals outright. We have to be ready.”

Rain or Shine bungled a golden chance to make the Final Four automatically on Saturday night after bowing to an NLEX side that gained very little in a 111-106 victory.

Alaska and San Miguel Beer, because of the Rain or Shine loss, finished 1-2 after the eliminations and will have a long break as they watch the eight lower ranked teams slug it out in a two-phase quarterfinal series.

Cortez, acquired by the Elite from Meralco in the off-season, also had 10 rebounds and finished with three triples that gave him a total of 501 for his career.

Cervantes, meanwhile, finished with 24 points, 14 of them coming in the fourth period as the Elite built comfortable buffers that withstood Mahindra’s last gasp effort behind rookie Mike DiGregorio and pint-sized point guard LA Revilla.

Gamalinda, another journeyman, scored nine of his 16 points in the third period.

Aldrech Ramos paced the Enforcers with 22 points and 10 rebounds, with DiGregorio winding up with a career-high 20.

“This (making the playoffs) is not a big achievement until such time that Blackwater becomes a team to be reckoned with,” Isaac said.

In the last game of the elimination round, Barangay Ginebra got 27 points and 13 rebounds from Greg Slaughter as the Gin Kings pulled out a 91-84 victory over Talk ‘N Text for No. 4 ranking.

The victory allowed the Gin Kings to close out eliminations with a 7-4 record and will clash with sister team Star, the No. 9 squad, also armed with a twice-to-beat privilege in the first phase.

The Tropang Texters thus dropped to No. 6 and will clash with No. 7 NLEX, also needing to beat the Road Warriors just once to move on.