Japeth Aguilar provided a game-long brilliance as Ginebra averted collapse against the hard-fighting Rain or Shine, 90-85, in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday, June 15.

The Gin Kings used a huge third quarter onslaught to create the much-needed separation which proved to be enough to weather the Elasto Painters comeback efforts in the final frame.

Ginebra joined San Miguel atop the standings with 2-0 records while Rain or Shine absorbed its second-straight defeat for a 1-2 win-loss slate.

Aguilar scored 23 points — 13 of which he unloaded in the first quarter on top of seven rebounds and two blocks while Scottie Thompson chipped in an all-around game of 16 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

The Kings also got solid contributions from Arvin Tolentino who scored all of his 11 points during the huge 24-5 run in the third frame, turning a 45-47 deficit into a 69-52 advantage. The lead even ballooned to as high as 21 points early in the final frame following a one-handed jam and a layup from Aguilar.

Refusing to go down without a fight were the Elasto Painters who went with its own 14-3 run sparked by the efforts of Gian Mamuyac, Andrei Caracut and Mike Nieto to cut the lead down to just 10, 82-72 with less than five-minutes left in the game.

Another Nieto triple broke Ginebra's double digit barrier before a Santi Santillan trey cut the lead down to five, 87-82 with 36 seconds left.

Rain or Shine had the chance to inch closer but came up dry in its last two possessions as Aguilar and LA Tenorio free throws sealed the deal for Ginebra.

Nieto had his best performance in Elasto Painters uniform finishing with 15 points off the bench while Belga added 14 markers and 10 boards. Caracut and Mamuyac also showed up with 12 and 10 points respectively for ROS which missed the services of Rey Nambatac and Gabe Norwood due to injuries.