MANILA — The Star Hotshots asserted their mastery over the NLEX Road Warriors with an 89-77 victory on Tuesday night at the Mall of Asia Arena to clinch the first semifinals berth in the PBA Governors’ Cup.

In a reprise of their last game against the same team in the elimination round last Sunday, the fourth-seeded Hotshots came from behind once again to pull off the emphatic quarterfinals victory.

Star now awaits the winner of the Meralco vs. Blackwater do-or-die match Thursday for the best-of-five semifinal series that begins Sunday.

Kristofer Acox led Star with 21 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block.

It was Paul Lee, however, who drilled the biggest shots of the night that sent the Road Warriors crashing out of the conference. Lee finished with 18 points, including a jumper that gave the Hotshots their first double-digit lead, 81-71, with 4:01 left. Ian Sangalang added 14 markers.

The Hotshots credited their air-tight defense for the win as they limited the Road Warriors to 40-percent shooting—their second-lowest output this season. Before their last two games against Star, the Road Warriors had been averaging a conference-high 105.1 points.

Just like in last Sunday’s game, NLEX was ahead, 61-53, following a 9-2 run in the third quarter. But Star responded with a devastating 16-2 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to take a 69-63 lead en route to victory.

Aaron Fuller led the Road Warriors with 16 points, nine boards, and three assists. However, only two other Road Warriors scored in double digits—Alex Mallari with 15 and Kevin Alas with 14.

Blackwater 92, Meralco 91

The eight-seeded Blackwater Elite brought down the top-seeded Meralco Bolts, 92-91, in a huge upset at the start of the 2017 Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.

New recruit Allein Maliksi nailed two back-to-back clutch baskets with less than a minute left for the win that erased Meralco’s twice-to-beat advantage and extended the quarterfinals to a sudden death on Thursday.

Maliksi gave Blackwater the lead, 90-89, with a pull-up jumper with 33.5 seconds left after receiving a behind-the-back pass from Roi Sumang, who stole the ball from Meralco import Allen Durham.

Durham atoned for that turnover with a putback after missing two free throws to give Meralco back the lead. But with 5.9 seconds left, Maliksi caught a pass from Bill Walker, then coolly nailed the game-winner from the top of the key.

The Elite then clamped down on defense after a Meralco timeout, forcing Mike Tolomia to take a hurried shot that was off as the buzzer sounded.

Blackwater became the ninth team in the league to force a knockout match against a top-seeded team. Three of those teams went on to advance to the next round. Blackwater can try to become the fourth team to set the record on Thursday.

Walker led the Elite with 30 points, scoring 19 of them in the final period. He also posted 18 caroms, six assists, one steal, and one block.

Mike DiGregorio added 20 points, four rebounds, three assists.

Maliksi finished with 15 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal, with no turnover.

Chris Newsome fled the Bolts with 19 points, eight boards, five assists, and two blocks.

Durham and Cliff Hodge added 18 points apiece while Jared Dillinger and Tolomia chipped in 12 and 11 markers, respectively.