Rain or Shine’s Sol Mercado (with ball) goes for a lay up against Purefoods’ Raffy Reavis during their PBA game last Sunday. The Giants won, 95-85. (Photo by TONY PIONILLA)

Sister teams Barangay Ginebra and Purefoods TJ Hotdogs won sudden-death matches against separate opponents Sunday night to complete the Final Four cast in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Kings, crushing the board and raining three-point shots, upended Talk 'N Text in reverse,113-100, while the Giants ended the challenge of Rain or Shine, 95-85.

After walking out during Game 4, the Tropang Texters arrived at the Big Dome 30 minutes before the match, ending speculations on whether they would show up or not.

But the Kings won't be denied, playing with more fire as they staved off the Tropang Texters' repeated rallies to earn a semifinal date with Alaska.

TNT played without big man Ranidel de Ocampo who was serving a one-game suspension for his flagrant foul 2 against Ronald Tubid last Friday.

Earlier, James Yap made up for his so-so showing in the last two games by leading the Giants to victory.

After averaging just 12.5 points in their last two losses, ace gunner James Yap scattered 28 points to power the Giants to a best-of-seven showdown with sister team San Miguel Beer starting Wednesday at the Big Dome.

It will mark the first time in 10 years that the Beermen and the Giants will face off in a seven-game series since the 2000 Governor’s Cup Finals which SMB won in five games.

Just when Rain or Shine was trying to turn things around when Sol Mercado’s three-point shot closed the gap at 85-91 late in the fourth, Yap made a jumper while Kerby Raymundo converted two free throws for a 94-85 lead with 1:37 left.

The two teams failed to score from there as Rain or Shine missed several three-point attempts.

“I told the players that in Game 5, we throw away everything what happened in the first four games, what we need to bring to the table is a huge fight heart,” Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio said.

“At least, we finally made it to the Final Four.”

“It’s a tough series. People thought that it’s going to be a breeze for us against Rain or Shine. At times we thought that they have the fighting heart, but not tonight,” Gregorio added.

A record crowd of 21,166 showed up for the twin sudden-death matches. The all-time record crowd in a PBA games was 22,902 during the seventh game of the 2008 Fiesta Cup Finals won by Ginebra over Air21.

The Kings made six triples, three from Ronald Tubid, two by JC Intal and one by Sunday Salvacion to end the first period for a 30-22 lead.

The scores:
First game
PUREFOODS 95 — Yap J. 28, Raymundo 16, Yap R. 16, Pingris 14, Reavis 9, Maierhofer 4, Allado 4, Artadi 2, Simon 2, Canaleta 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 85 — Mercado 23, Norwood 20, Reyes 9, Chan 8, Araña 7, Cruz 6, Laure 6, Telan 4, Tang 2, Arellano 0, Hrabak 0.
Quarters: 25-26, 50-47, 80-66, 95-85.

Second game
GINEBRA 113 — Intal 28, Tubid 16, Menk 16, Wilson 14, Cruz 13, Villanueva 10, Salvacion 8, Baguio 3, Helterbrand 3, Caguioa 2.
TALK 'N TEXT 100 — Cardona 21, Castro 18, Alapag 18, Dillinger 17, Peek 9, Carey 8, Ritualo 5, De Ocampo Y. 4, Belasco 0.
Quarters: 30-22, 55-49, 88-79, 113-100.