Jhonard Clarito delivered when it mattered the most, coming out with huge plays and even bigger boards in Rain or Shine’s 92-89 escape over twice-to-beat NLEX to force a decider in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup quarterfinals action Wednesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

The Elasto Painters squandered a 16-point first half lead after allowing the second-seeded Road Warriors to erase their deficit in the third canto before Clarito came to the rescue with his heroics.

Clarito grabbed 13 of his career-best 21 rebounds in the payoff period including crucial offensive boards and putbacks that kept Rain or Shine in front during a wild windup. The small forward finished with 20 points with one assist, one steal and one block as the Elasto Painters forced a do-or-die on Saturday.

“We saw Jhonard’s effort, buwis buhay talaga. Any coach will appreciate the effort they put up,” Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao said.

The Elasto Painters uncorked a 9-4 blast with Clarito crashing the offensive boards in the decisive run that shattered an 81-81 deadlock for a 90-85 lead with 1:43 left.

NLEX ace Robert Bolick sank a four-pointer to cut it down to one before Clarito iced it with a pair of free throws with 10.2 ticks left. Bolick missed a desperate four-pointer as Clarito snatched his final board as time expired.

“We were just patient. We tried to be patient. Basketball is a game of runs. We had our run in the first half and NLEX had their run in the third quarter,” Guiao said.

“Good thing we were able to recover in the fourth quarter. It was sheer heart, sheer hard work, sheer effort and the desire to extend the series.”

Adrian Nocum scored 20 points, Santi Santillan had 16 markers while Andrei Caracut added 10 for Rain or Shine, who trailed by eight early in the fourth.

The NLEX-Rain or Shine survivor will face the winner between No. 3 seed and twice-to-beat Magnolia and TNT, which are playing as of press time, in the best-of-seven semifinals.

The scores:

RAIN OR SHINE (92) — Clarito 20, Nocum 20, Santillan 16, Caracut 10, Mamuyac 7, Tiongson 6, Asistio 5, Porter 4, Norwood 4, Datu 0.

NLEX (89) — Torres 20, Mocon 16, Bolick 15, Ramirez 11, Semerad 9, Bahio 6, Alas 6, Nieto 2, Fajardo 2, Policarpio 2.

QUARTERS: 28-15, 47-37, 69-73, 92-89.