MANILA: Rain or Shine coaches Yeng Guiao and Caloy Garcia celebrated their birthdays on Wednesday, but the Elasto Painters weren’t the ones partying that night.

San Miguel Beer, after blowing a 16-point third quarter lead, ruined whatever party plans the Rain or Shine brain trust had by scoring a 112-107 victory that put the Beermen back in the thick of things in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Chris Ross, the Beermen’s defense-oriented point guard, scattered a career-high 22 points and was big down the stretch as San Miguel rebounded from its first and only loss of the tournament by upending the Painters in a tight endgame.

San Miguel thus rose to 3-1 overall, while the Painters, the losing finalists to San Mig Coffee in the Philippine Cup, dropped to 1-2.

“We expect effort from Chris every time, that’s why he is our captain,” San Miguel assistant coach Todd Purves, the American who makes practically all game decisions, told reporters. “Whatever scoring we get from him is icing on the cake.

“It’s just nice to beat a well-coached and well-disciplined team like Rain or Shine,” Purves added. “Winning a game like this one always feels good.”

Kevin Jones scored 33 points and had 15 rebounds in his second game on Philippine soil, and got a lot of support with Arwind Santos shooting 19 points.

Alexander McLean scattered 33 to pace the Elasto Painters, who were down, 62-78, before taking a 101-98 lead after a three-pointer by their import heading into the final four minutes of the physical contest.

The performance of Ross more than made up for the absence of all-star point guard Sol Mercado, who suited up but was never used because of a groin injury.

The 6-foot Mercado, one of the highest-scoring point guards in the league, dismissed the injury as “insignificant” though his status has been placed as day-to-day.

Traded from Globalport for Alex Cabagnot before the conference started, Mercado, will be a gametime decision when the Beermen return to the floor on Saturday against Barako Bull.

Santos, the reigning MVP, drained a triple that shoved the Beermen ahead to stay, 105-104 with 1:26 remaining, before Ross beat the shotclock with a left-handed layup in a broken play with 44.6 seconds left to give San Miguel more breathing room.

Rain or Shine then threw the ball away in its next possession, when Jeff Chan tried to find McLean inside, which led to two more Santos charities that sealed the deal for San Miguel, 109-104 with only 22 seconds left.

The win, and considering how he played, was also redemption of sorts for Jones, who came in last week as a replacement for NBA veteran Josh Boone, who led the Beermen to two straight wins.

San Miguel lost to Talk ‘N Text last week in Jones’ first game where he tallied 35 points and had 14 rebounds. Though his performance on Wednesday night wasn’t really dominating, Purves said that they are very satisfied with their new import.

“Kevin is blending so well with the team,” Purves said. “He’s just a total team guy that looks to play defense first before shooting. He exhibits that things that we in the coaching staff are looking for.”

June Mar Fajardo also played his second game back from an ankle injury and contributed 11 points that went with 11 rebounds.

Paul Lee, the former Rookie of the Year, and Beau Belga were the only other players in twin digits for Guiao. Lee had 13 and Belga 12.

The scores:

San Miguel Beer 112 — Jones 33, Ross 22, Lassiter 19, Santos 19, Fajardo 11, Duncil 3 Tubid 3, Kramer 2, Maierhofer 0, Hubalde 0, Lutz 0.

Rain or Shine 107 — McLean 33, Lee 13, Belga 12, Chan 9, Arana 8, Almazan 8, Tiu 8, Norwood 8, Rodriguez 4, Uyloan 2, Teng 2, Cruz 0, Tang 0, Tang 0

Quarters: 27-26, 56-51, 88-82, 112-107