Alaska has made its defense its main weapon in the PBA Philippine Cup.

And with a title series slot on the line on Sunday night, the Aces played its best defense yet on Rain or Shine, scoring a 79-76 decision at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay that had Alaska marching into the championship playoffs of the season-opening tournament.

Dondon Hontiveros did the damage on the Elasto Painers offensively, shooting five straight triples in a hot stretch in the fourth period before Alaska choked the Rain or Shine offense into laying a big fat egg inside the final 2:21.

The Aces thus closed out the Painters in their bruising best-of-seven series, 4-2, to advance to another race-to-four affair for the season’s most prestigious title against San Miguel Beer starting Wednesday night.

Game 1 of that series is slated at 7 p.m. at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Hontiveros was responsible for keeping Alaska in the game in the face of a torrid Rain or Shine onslaught in the second half, canning his last two triples in a 33-second span inside the final two minutes that proved to be the marginal points.

Rain or Shine held a 76-73 lead entering the final 2:21 after Jonathan Uyloan scored on a difficult layup off a Beau Belga assist as the Painters seemed poised to finishing off the Aces.

Alaska had control for most of the first half, holding the Painters to just 28 points in the first two periods.

But Rain or Shine simply did not roll over and die, scoring 32 in the third to gain momentum and take a 60-56 lead into the fourth quarter that was nip-and-tuck all the way.

“As much as I love Dondon, the best thing for me is that we won on defense,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton, a confessed offensive player during his time who turned the Aces into a defense-minded lot.

Alaska’s advance marked the 27th time in franchise history that the Aces will play for a title, though the squad will be making a return trip to the Finals for the first time since ruling the 2012 Commissioner’s Cup with Robert Dozier as import.

“I thought defensively in the first half that it (our defense) was tremendous,” Compton said. “(But) Rain or Shine is so good offensively that, after we gave them just 28 (points) in the first half, they come back at us with 32 (points in the third quarter).”

The last of those two Hontiveros triples in the stretch came at the 1:03 mark and the Painters were able to launch a total of three triples tries in trying to tie but missed them all with Alaska not giving them a clear view of the basket.

Hontiveros, after shooting just two points in the first three quarters, still went on to topscore for the Aces with 17, with Calvin Abueva shooting 15 that went with nine rebounds.

Jeff Chan led that torrid third quarter assault of the Painters by shooting nine of his team-high 16. But the other big guns of Rain or Shine like Paul Lee and Gabe Norwood contributed just a combined 11 points.

Lee, undoubtedly the Painters’ best all-around player, wasn’t able to launch an attempt inside the final minute.

Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra will resume practice on Monday afternoon and will formally announce the reappointment of Ato Agustin as its head coach in place of Jeffrey Cariaso.

The Gin Kings have been the league’s biggest underachievers under Cariaso, finishing sixth in the Governors’ Cup last season before winding up fifth in the Philippine Cup this year.

Agustin, a champion coach while with San Miguel Beer, will have his second tour of duty with the crowd-darling Gin Kings, coming in to replace Cariaso, the former Rookie of the Year who called the shots for just two conferences.

Cariaso failed to steer the Kings deep into the playoffs in his stint despite having 7-foot former Rookie of the Year Greg Slaughter and a horde of talented guards led by former MVPs Mark Caguiao and Jay Jay Helterbrand and the spitfirish LA Tenorio.