MANILA — The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters pulled down the Magnolia Hotshots from the top with a 101-95 victory in the PBA Philippine Cup road game at the Calasiao Sports Complex in Pangasinan Saturday night.

ROS thus climbed to solo fourth spot in the standings with its third straight win and fifth overall against three losses. Magnolia slid to third with a 6-3 win-loss card, allowing idle San Miguel Beer and Alaska to take the top two spots, both with a 6-2 mark.

Raymond Almazan appeared to quell rumors that he wants out of ROS as he belched fire from the get-go, scoring the game’s first seven points. He finished with a team-high 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting on top of six rebounds and three blocks.

James Yap was also on target as he dished out 13 points, including two three-pointers, five boards, and three assists in over 22 minutes off the bench against his former team where he used to be its biggest star.

Maverick Ahanmisi and Gabe Norwood presided over the ROS offense, tallying 12 points apiece. Norwood also had seven rebounds while Ahanmisi collected eight boards and three assists. Chris Tiu added 11 markers.

The E-Painters led from start to finish and were up by as much as 21 points, 67-46, midway in the third quarter. With ROS still up by 16 points, 96-80, with five minutes left, the Hotshots made their last push to try and steal the game. But they only managed to cut the deficit to seven points, 100-93, with 1:24 to go, before the Painters sealed the win.

Aldrech Ramos led Magnolia with 27 points, including four three-pointers in over 27 minutes off the bench. Rome dela Rosa added 15 markers while Jio Jalalon and Mark Barroca chipped in 14 and 10 points, respectively. Their output, however, failed to stop Magnolia from absorbing its second straight loss and third in nine games.

Games Sunday: NLEX Road Warriors (4-4) vs. Alaska Aces (6-2) and Barangay Ginebra Kings (4-4) vs. TNT KaTropa Texters (4-4).