MANILA: Young as he is and in just his fourth year as a pro, Paul Lee continues to add chapter upon chapter to his growing legend in the PBA.

Playing through the pain of a left ankle sprain, the 6-foot dynamo on Saturday night lifted Rain or Shine to a 134-132 double overtime victory over Barako Bull and into the Final Four of the Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Lee drove to the heart of the Barako Bull defense, did a spin move to lose his guard and then flicked in a running short stab off the 7-foot Liam McMorrow, knocking the game winner off the glass that ushered the Painters closer to another title series this season.

It was a great way to finish a game that had the Elasto Painters blowing a 25-point second quarter lead to even trail late in regulation.

The win also extended Rain or Shine’s streak to a seventh Final Four appearance, a feat last turned in by San Mig/Purefoods that started in 2012 and ended when the Mixers/Hotdogs completed a Grand Slam last season.

“There really was no choice, I just had to suck up the pain,” Lee said in Filipino after finishing with 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in another dominating all-around performance for the Painters.

Lee was also the hero for the Painters in qualifying as the No. 3 seed, when he knocked down eight straight free throws in the stretch of a close win over Meralco a week ago.

“I think tonight, we just showed our poise, our character, in a close game,” the former Rookie of the Year also said. “It’s going to get tougher in the semifinals.”

Early on, it looked like it would be a breeze for the Painters, who started out 11-0 and went on to take a 56-31 lead halfway through second period.

And unlike in their pathetic stand against Star in their final elimination round game a week ago, Barako Bull sprang back to life, cutting down that deficit to manageable proportions to set the tables up for the interesting endgame.

McMorrow forged the first overtime by scoring on a two-handed slam dunk with 23.7 seconds left for 111-all. His next basket would be with 274 ticks remaining for the game’s last tie at 132, which Lee snapped with that brilliant shot.

“We did not want it to go into a second game,” Guiao said. “We thought we played well in the first half and thought that the game would be easy. We fell into a mental trap.

“Barako Bull gave us a hard time,” he went on. “But I guess that’s the way to get to the semifinals.”

Wendell McKines scored 18 points in the first quarter to fuel the hot Rain or Shine start and finished with 36 that went with 15 rebounds.

McMorrow wound up with 32 points and 23 boards.

Rain or Shine will await the winner of the San Miguel Beer-Meralco series, which will go down to a deciding game after the Bolts, ranked seventh after losing three of their last four elimination round games, upset the No. 2 Beermen, 106-99, in the second game.

Meralco snapped a long drought by forcing the Beermen into their own in the final three minutes, breaking the game’s last tie at 99 by closing out with seven unanswered points.

That rubber match is slated Monday night also at the Big Dome.

Another decider that will happen will be the Globalport-Star series. It will be played Sunday afternoon with the defending champion Hotshots having all the confidence of going all the way after destroying the Batang Pier, 126-73, in Game 1 of their quarterfinal pairing on Friday night.

The winner of the Star-Globalport game will advance to face No. 1 Alaska in a best-of-five Final Four series.

The Aces became the first semifinalists on Friday night after coming from behind to deal No. 8 Barangay Ginebra a 114-108 defeat, which was marred by an ugly incident late in the fourth period that the Office of the Commissioner will review on Monday.

League sources told Arab News that a second look at the replay of the incident saw Ginebra coach Frankie Lim coming into “unnecessary contact” with a fallen Calvin Abueva of Alaska right in front of the Ginebra bench.

Should Lim be proven to be at fault, he stands to be slapped a hefty fine.

The last coach that was fined for contacting an opposing player was Rain or Shine’s Yeng Guiao, who drew a P100,000 penalty for giving former import Arizona Reid a nudge in the Commissioner’s Cup.