MANILA: For the second straight game, San Miguel Beer showed it can do the job without having June Mar Fajardo do almost everything.

The Beermen on Wednesday night moved within another triumph of getting a shot at repeating as the PBA Philippine Cup champs, mowing down Rain or Shine in the fourth period for a 103-94 win and a 3-2 lead in their Final Four series at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Fajardo, San Miguel’s 6-foot-10 cornerstone, had series lows of 27 points and 12 rebounds, but these weren’t enough to prevent the Beermen from winning consecutive games for the first time in the series and regaining control.

Arwind Santos was one of those who stepped up, shooting eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter as the Beermen wriggled out of a tight 72-68 game to turn what had started as a low-scoring affair into a trademark runaway San Miguel win.

Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter also came up with the shots that stung Rain or Shine, who lost a 2-1 series lead by losing steam in the final two quarters of the last two contests.

“We haven’t achieved anything yet with this win,” San Miguel coach Leo Austria said, though he acknowledged that having two shots to close out the Painters is a great chance. “We still need to win another game.”

Santos spearheaded a fiery San Miguel attack in the fourth that had the Beermen racing to a 92-76 lead halfway through the quarter. The Painters would never be in the fight again from there.

The Beermen can wrap up this series on Friday at 7 p.m. also at the Big Dome in Cubao in Game 6, the first of two they have.

“This is a series, we still need to win another one,” Austria went on.

And when asked of Game 6, Austria said: “Usually, the close-out games are the tough ones to win.”

Alaska, after a 118-89 win closed out its Final Four series with GlobalPort, 4-1, on Tuesday night, is waiting in the wings for a title series opponent.

A win by San Miguel on Friday will have the Finals starting on Sunday, but if Rain or Shine extends the series to a Game 7, the title showdown will commence starting Tuesday, with Game 2 or Game slated to be played in Lucena City.

“We need to play methodical and deliberate (in Game 6),” Austria said.

This was the hardest that Rain or Shine struggled in the game in the series, with Paul Lee dramatizing that.

The 6-foot point guard, who scored 18 points in a Game 3 and seemed returning to peak form after being reactivated only in the Final Four after a knee injury, shot just seven points and was even able to launch a single three-point attempt.

JR Quinahan paced the Painters with 20 markers and Jeff Chan had 15, but the duo was good for only a combined 11 points in the final two periods.

Jericho Cruz returned to active duty after that scary landing that resulted in a hyper-extended left knee with five seconds left in Game 3, shooting 13 markers for the Painters.

“We need to play better defense,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said, arriving to the press room late after giving his boys a dressing down after the game. “San Miguel is shooting in the 50% range and that is just too much for us.”

“We can win with an off offensive night, but we cannot beat this team if we don’t play better defense,” he went on. “We’re still very positive. We feel we can take this series to a Game 7.”