MANILA— The Barangay Ginebra Kings hardly missed the continued absence of Greg Slaughter as they sent the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters crashing out of the PBA Philippine Cup with a 99-91 victory in Game 2 of their best-of-3 quarterfinals showdown Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Kings thus arranged a best-of-7 semifinals series with defending champion San Miguel Beer.

Japeth Aguilar was again the main man for Ginebra, finishing with a team-high 27 points on top of 12 rebounds, three steals, three blocks and one assist in 34 minutes. His short baseline jumper with 55.3 seconds left gave the Kings a seven-point lead, 96-89, virtually sealing the win for his team.

Jervy Cruz came off the bench to torment his former team, tallying 18 points, seven rebounds, and two assists in less than 25 minutes. LA Tenorio added 17 points, three assists, two boards, and one steal with zero turnover in over 39 minutes. Sol Mercado and Joe Devance chipped in 10 markers apiece while Scottie Thompson contributed 9 points.

Maverick Ahanmisi led Rain or Shine with 18 points, but all his points except one came in the first three quarters. Raymond Almazan added 14 points and 13 rebounds. Ed Daquioag also scored 14 points while Beau Belga chipped in 13 in a losing effort.

NLEX 87, Alaska 83

The NLEX Road Warriors made history, advancing to the semifinals for the first time since they entered the league in 2014 after defeating the Alaska Aces, 87-83, in Game 2 of their best-of-3 quarterfinals series Wednesday night.

Having also won Game 1 of the series on Monday, the sixth-seeded Road Warriors thus advanced to the semifinals against the second-seeded Magnolia Hotshots in a best-of-7 series that begins Friday.

Kevin Alas and Michael Miranda delivered the key baskets at crunch time for NLEX that finally settled the outcome of a closely fought contest that saw 29 lead changes and 12 deadlocks.

Alas finished with a team-high 18 points along with nine rebounds, and one steal in 30 minutes, while Miranda punched in 12 points and three rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench. JR Quinahan added 16 points, five boards, two assists, and one steal.

NLEX won despite a sub-par performance from its rookie sensation Kiefer Ravena, who hit just one of 13 shots. Still, Ravena finished with 11 points, seven assists, and two steals in 29 minutes off the bench.

Calvin Abueva led Alaska with 17 points and 16 rebounds but missed plenty of shots late in the game.

Games Friday: Magnolia Hotshots vs. NLEX Road Warriors (Game 1, best-of-7 semifinals) and Barangay Ginebra Kings vs. San Miguel Beer (Game 1, best-of-7 semifinals).