MANILA: San Miguel Beer and Rain or Shine found the going tough against enemies that didn’t have anything to lose on Sunday night.

And while both got the job done against Phoenix Petroleum and Blackwater, respectively, the Beermen remained as the only side that hold their own destiny as far as the race for the second quarterfinal bonus in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup is concerned.

San Miguel broke away in the third quarter to post a 121-109 victory over the Fuel Masters, making its final elimination round game against defending champion Tropang TNT next Friday an all-important one since a setback would put them on a longer and definitely rougher road to the Final Four.

Tyler Wilkerson scored 40 points and led the Beermen in notching their seventh win in 10 outings, the same record now being held by Rain or Shine, which clipped Blackwater, 118-107 in the first game, and the mark two more teams will be chasing in the final two days of classification to be able to make a case for the second quarterfinal bonus.

Barangay Ginebra and Alaska can also finish with 7-4 records with victories over Meralco and NLEX on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, and could figure in the equation if the Texters defeat the Beermen in the final game of the elimination round on Friday.

That scenario would be most unwelcome for San Miguel, which could drop into a best-of-three series as the Beermen, who lost by 26 points to Ginebra.

The top two teams after the quotient system is applied will then figure in a one-game playoff to determine the No. 2 team, which would get the second twice-to-beat privilege.

Meralco, with an 8-2 record, is already assured of the first quarterfinal bonus and could only be knocked out of No. 1 if San Miguel defeats Tropang TNT and the Bolts bow to the Gin Kings on Wednesday.

“This was a very important game for us,” San Miguel’s Leo Austria said. “We got a scare in the first half.”

San Miguel trailed by as large as 19 points early before waking up, so to speak, and put the Fuel Masters in their proper place. Phoenix closed out its maiden PBA conference with a 3-8 record and joined the Elite and GlobalPort in taking an early vacation.

“My players would have to understand that every team out here would want to beat us,” Austria said in explaining their slow start against the Fuel Masters. “It (beating us) is always a matter of pride for our opponents.”

Kevin Pinkney paced the Fuel Masters with 38 points, with JC Intal and Josh Urbiztondo contributing a combined 24.

Alex Cabagnot fired 16 points and Marcio Lassiter dropped all of his 14 in the second half for the Beermen, who will be trying to win this conference to move within another jewel of a coveted Triple Crown sweep.

Meanwhile, the Elasto Painters let go of Mo Charlo and enlisted a 270-pound banger in Pierre Henderson-Niles, who came out with a respectable debut against the Elite as Rain or Shine will await the results of the rest of the round to know where it stands.

JR Quinahan scored 15 points, Jeff Chan had 12 like Henderson-Niles and three more locals tossed in twin digits for coach Yeng Guiao, who likes what he saw in his fourth import for the tournament despite the meager numbers he put up.

“The potential (in Henderson-Niles) is there. The upside is good,” Guiao told reporters after he finally landed someone who could go toe-to-toe with the bigger imports in the tournament. “We just need to get him in game shape and we have a week to do that.”

Carlo Lastimosa, who was embroiled in a free throw-miss controversy in the Elite’s previous loss, paced Blackwater with 27 points, with import Malcolm Rhett finishing with 19 and 14 rebounds in his farewell stint.