MANILA: Ronjay Buenafe sizzled for 29 points, converting 8 of 12 three-point attempts, to power the Air21 Express to a hard-fought 93-87 win against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Wednesday night in the PBA Philippine Cup. Air21's victory intensified the battle for the quarterfinals seedings as the Express forged a three-way tie for fifth to seventh place with the Alaska and Meralco, all with a 6-7 win-loss slate. The win avenged the Express' 86-89 loss to the Painters in their first meeting last Oct. 13. With their seventh loss in 12 games, Rain or Shine fell into solo eighth place with two more elimination round games to play. The teams ranked from fifth to eighth place are hard pressed to improve on their standing to avoid an early collision with the two top seeds who enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals. The San Miguel Beermen are already assured of that advantage with their 11-3 card. The other top seeding is a toss-up between Barangay Ginebra and Talk N Text, both with a 9-3 slate. They will break the tie when they collide Friday. Powerade (3-10) and Barako Bull (2-11) are already eliminated. Meanwhile, in the first match of the doubleheader, Nino Canaleta exploded for 22 points, including 4-of-4 shooting from 3-point range in fourth quarter, to lead the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados to a 92-73 win against the Meralco Bolts. With their seventh win in 13 games, the Llamados tightened their hold on the fourth spot in the standing going into the final week of the elimination phase of the conference. The Bolts picked up their second straight loss and fell into a tie with idle Alaska at fifth to sixth spots, both with 6-7 records. James Yap and Jonas Villanueva came off the Derby Ace bench to add 13 points each as the Llamados repeated over the Bolts whom they also beat 75-71 in their first meeting. Shaking off the pain on both feet, Mac Cardona led Meralco with 22 points before fouling out with 3:13 to play.
