Rain or Shine is now a step closer for its first ever playoff appearance since entering the league two seasons ago.

The Elasto Painters showed poise in the closing minutes to eke out an 82-76 win over Purefoods Tender Juicy to stay in the second spot of the 2008-09 KFC-PBA Philippine Cup Saturday night at the Cuneta Astrodome.

The win was Asian Coatings franchise's first three-game winning streak and more importantly put then in a good position of securing at least an automatic quarterfinal seat in the tournament.

"This is our first time to win three in a row and I hope this will not end here because we're aiming something for the franchise," said Rain or Shine mentor Caloy Garcia, who also dedicated the victory to the injured Eddie Laure.

Laure, one of the reasons in the team's sudden rise in the conference, is down with a rib injury he suffered in their previous game against Sta. Lucia.

"We wanted to win this for Eddie Elaure. I hope he gets well very soon. We needed him in the team," Garcia added.

Rain or Shine moves to 9-6 for a share of the second spot with San Miguel Beer, which survived the upset-consious Red Bull in the second game, 89-84.

Rookie Solomon Mercado, Allan Salansang and Rob Wainwright provided the crucial points in the last four minutes of the game after Giants star James Yap put his team in the lead for the last time at 76-74 with 3:46.

Mercado completed a three-point play to grab the lead at 77-76, 1:53 remaining.

The Elasto Painters forced Yap and Kerby Raymundo to missed their attempts that led to a back-breaking three-pointer by Wainwright to make it an 80-76 advantage, 47.2 ticks left.

Salangsang sealed the win for Rain or Shine with a pair of split free throws to thwart Purefoods' aim for a three-game winning run and slide to 7-8.

"I hope, we can finish No. 2. It will be a good season for the franchise and simply a big opportunity for the whole team. The management is very supportive," said Garcia.

Mercado paced Elasto Painters with 19 points to go along with his five assists and three steals while Isip and Wainwright added 14 markers apiece. Jay-R Reyes finished with a game-high 15 rebounds.

Yap netted 32 points in 36 minutes off the bench while Raymundo chipped in 17 for coach Ryan Gregorio, who also lost to the Rain or Shine in the first meeting, 88-84 in overtime.   

The Beermen drew another huge game from Anthony Washington who finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds while Jonas Villanueva chipped in 16 markers off the bench.

"Three games to go, it will be neck and neck. One loss and you'll go down to four or five," said SMB head coach Siot Tanquingcen who also drew 14 markers from Dondon Hontiveros.

San Miguel handed the Barakos a franchise-worst eight-game losing streak to go down deeper in the team standings with 3-11 mark.

Gabby Espinas led Red Bull with 14 points and 11 rebounds while Jeff Chan and Carlo Sharma each had 10 points for coach Yeng Guiao.