MANILA: Talk about a great escape act and Rain or Shine literally just had one.

The Elasto Painters on Tuesday night eked out a 98-96 victory over San Miguel Beer after almost blowing a 12-point lead midway in the fourth period, before taking a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-five semifinal playoff in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Rain or Shine survived a swashbuckling San Miguel finish only after a three-point shot by the struggling Marcio Lassiter was ruled to have come after the final horn sounded, preserving the Painters’ victory which moved them to within another triumph of advancing to the championship playoff.

“We were lucky,” Rain or Shine assistant coach Caloy Garcia, who handled the Painters in lieu of Yeng Guiao, told reporters in reference to that Lassiter triple. “I am overwhelmed. The players wanted it more tonight.”

Game 3, the potential series-clinching game for Rain or Shine, happens Thursday evening at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig where San Miguel started writing a big piece of league history in the Philippine Cup this season.

Down 0-3 in the best-of-seven title series against Alaska, the Beermen won Game 4 in double overtime, eventually winning the next three to become the first team in the PBA to claw back from such a deficit.

“We need to play better, to improve on some other things,” Garcia said. “Because we all know that San Miguel is capable of coming back (in a series).”

Guiao had to attend a debate among congressional candidates back in Pampanga. The multi-titled coach is running for a seat in the first district of that province.

Paul Lee hit the final three points for the Painters from the stripe and the Beermen had a chance to at least forge overtime having 13.8 seconds left on the clock.

But in a strange twist, San Miguel did not elect to take it strong to the hoop and instead, tried to look for an open man outside.

Lassiter, who has gone 2-for-20 in the first two games from three-point distance, almost lost possession — and valuable time on the clock — before launching what would have been the game-winner off the glass.

Jericho Cruz paced the Painters with 16 points and import Pierre Henderson-Niles had 15 and provided the heft inside the paint that prevented reigning two-time MVP June Mar Fajardo from dominating inside.

Fajardo was held to just 14 points, just three in the final period.

Tyler Wilkerson led all San Miguel Beer shooters with 35 points, while Alex Cabagnot finished with 10, nine of them in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, Alaska seeks a commanding 2-0 lead over Meralco on Wednesday, with the Aces favored slightly in their 7 p.m. clash also at the Big Dome in Cubao.

Coming off a 97-94 victory on Monday, the Aces are looking to get a lot more from import Robert Dozier to be able to handle the Bolts a little better and avoid being dragged into a tight endgame.

Alaska, which is already without Vic Manuel and JV Casio, sorely missed Dozier’s offense in Game 1, where the former Best Import winner contributed just seven points and eight rebounds after being limited to under 32 minutes because of foul trouble.

Having Dozier contribute heavily offensively would take a lot of the load off the shoulders of Alaska’s locals.

RJ Jazul started out at the point in place of Casio, and Calvin Abueva came off the bench and, as usual, provided all the energy Alaska needed while shooting all of his 15 points in the second half.

Meralco, on the other hand, should get import Arinze Onuaku better looks at the basket and free him from the swarming Alaska defense inside the paint.

Onuaku was starved to just 13 points on Monday – even with Dozier on the bench for extended minutes – as the Alaska defense did its job whenever the beefy Meralco import got an entry pass inside.