MANILA: Facing the best team in the PBA Governors’ Cup and playing the most intimidating import there is at the moment, newcomer KIA Motors made Barako Bull and Liam McMorrow perform at their worst.

The Carnival shut down the tournament’s highest-scoring squad and made the 7-foot-2 McMorrow look like a pitiful sight in a 71-68 decision that put KIA back in the mix for a top four berth in the season-closing conference at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Coming into the game still licking the wounds of a two-game losing streak capped by an ugly loss, the Carnival gave out a performance to remember and muddled up the standings after rising to 4-3 overall to be in the thick of the hunt for a top four berth.

The loss, the first in three games and just the second in eight matches overall for the Energy, denied Barako Bull the chance to put a foot in the top four as it dropped to second behind idle San Miguel Beer, which has a 7-2 card.

Rain or Shine extended its winning streak to three games but not after blowing a 29-point lead before prevailing, 106-102, over NLEX in the nightcap.

Wendell McKines scored 33 points and plucked down 20 rebounds for the Elasto Painters, who rose to a level 4-4 card and stayed mathematically in the hunt for a top four berth.

Rain or Shine was ahead, 84-55 late in the third before the Road Warriors fought like crazy, dropping a 25-2 bomb to bridge the final two periods and make a game out of it.

The Road Warriors pulled even at 91 before loaing steam in the stretch, dropping to 2-6 to remain out of the playoff picture.

"We survived a scare out there tonight," Rain or Shine coach Yenh Guiao said.

Hamady N’Diyae did nothing but mind McMorrow all game and held the NBA prospect to just 12 points in 41 minutes.

McMorrow, who was coming off a spectacular 41-point, 27-rebound effort, was effectively taken out of his sweet spot by N’Diyae as the Energy couldn’t get anything from their high-profile import when the going was roughest.

The Barako Bull output was the lowest for the franchise this season, and for the first time in the conference, the Energy failed to score at least 100 points.

In fact, the Carnival defense held Barako Bull to 40 points off of its average output in the conference, a testament to how hard KIA worked on the defensive end.

Joseph Yeo, the Barako Bull swingman who has re-energized his squad since coming over from a trade with Barangay Ginebra, was scoreless in 40 minutes. He came into the game taking a 23-point average in the last four Barako Bull games.

“I challenged my players to again play with pride defensively,” KIA coach Chito Victolero said during the customary winning coach’s interview. “We are one of the top defensive teams in the conference, and I asked them to play with pride.”

N’Diyae scored on a monster two-handed slam with 3:07 left that tied the games for the last time at 67 before changing McMorrow’s shot on the other end which led to a Hyram Bagatsing layup that had the Carnival grabbing the lead for good with 2:40 to go.

Yeo’s struggles were highlighted from there, as he lost the ball while going for a drive in the next Barako Bull offensive. Yeo also missed the target terribly with a three-point attempt which led to a Bagatsing split from the line with 8.2 remaining for what turned out to be the final count.

Yeo was 0-for-11 for the night, the first time since Mark Caguioa of Barangay Ginebra in the 2013 Governors’ Cup that someone failed to connect on a shot with that many attempts.

“Our defensive focus was really on McMorrow and Joseph (Yeo),” Victolero said. “We have the utmost respect for them and we knew that if we could contain them, we would have a great chance.”

Jet Chang, the Taiwanese who is KIA’s Asian import, paced the Carnival with 15 points, with LA Revilla tossing in 10.

N’Diyae had just eight points but ripped off 13 rebounds and had five blocks.

Carlo Lastimosa and Chico Lanete scored 13 apiece to pace the Energy, who have three games remaining and would need to win at least two to safely put away a top four berth that would mean a twice-to-beat privilege in the first round of the playoffs.

Tournament format calls for the top eight teams to advance, but the bottom four – in pairings that would have No. 1 battling No. 8; No. 2 playing No. 7; No 3 slugging it out with No. 6 and Nos. 4 and 5 colliding – would need to beat higher-ranked foes two straight times to march on to the semifinals.