Rain or Shine leaned on Solomon Mercado in disposing Barako Bull, 96-88, during their knockout wildcard match to barge into the quarterfinal round of the 2008-09 Motolite-PBA Fiesta Conference Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Mercado scored 29 points in just 25 minutes of play to help the Elasto Painters grab a slot in the best-of-three phase.

“It’s a tough game and we need to show our hearts and come back and play hard,” said Mercado, who rested in the last five minutes of the game due to a hamstring injury.

Rain or Shine, which came off a 71-114 loss to Barangay Ginebra, will face the winner between Talk ‘N Text and Purefoods Tender Juicy on Friday.

Rob Wainwright chipped in 16 markers in the first half for Rain or Shine, which received a quiet offensive game from import Jai Lewis who finished with only eight points.

“The true character of the team showed tonight. We worked so hard in the past two days and we made sure that we’re very focus on this game,” said Rain or Shine head coach Caloy Garcia.

“Right now, our worry is the injury of Sol. He had a hamstring injury and we just hope he’ll be fine come the quarterfinal round,” Garcia added.

In the second game, Burger King also entered the next round after beating Alaska, 96-90. They will now wait for the winner between Sta. Lucia Realty and Coca-Cola for their own best-of-three quarterfinal series.

Shawn Daniels registered 20 points and grabbed 23 rebounds for Burger King while Gary David and JR Quinahan chipped in 13 and 11 respectively for coach Yeng Guiao.

“We’re glad it’s over because we knew Alaska is capable of beating any team twice,” said Guiao. “But I think they’re tired and [we] took advantage of that.”

The Whoppers controlled the game from the opening tip although the Aces made a run in the final period to no avail.