Their wire-to-wire victory leveled their best-of-five quarterfinal series at 1-all.

After the Phone Pals pulled within 81-83 on a basket by Jimmy Alapag, Yancy, without hesitation, sank a 20-footer from the top of the key to make it a two-possession game, 1:04 to go.

Ranidel proved up to the task of duplicating his elder brother’s trick, pulling up for a similar 20-footer to make it a five-point game, 87-82, 39 seconds left.

Asi Taulava, who started the Phone Pals’ endgame surge with back-to-back baskets midway in the fourth, split his free throws in the previous play for an 82-85 count.

Belano’s lay-up and Alapag’s trey with 10.4 seconds remaining made it interesting, but clutch free throw shooting from Express guards Wynne Arboleda and Patrick Fran sealed the deal.

Arboleda canned a pair in-between the baskets of Belano and Alapag and Fran split his with nine seconds to go for the final count.

It was the seventh win of the Express in eight times they held their opponent to less than 90 points. The Phone Pals, on the other hand, dropped their fourth straight when they scored less than 90.

Ranidel, who also grabbed nine rebounds, and RenRen Ritualo led the Express with 17 points apiece. Shawn Daniels and Yancy posted double-doubles with 14 and 24 and 12 and 11, respectively.

"It looks like we’re in better shape (than the Phone Pals). We remain aggressive despite playing for the fourth time in five days," said Express coach Bo Perasol.

The Express actually played their third game in three nights. But it’s hardly evident with the way they’ve played. They appeared stronger and quicker than the Phone Pals and never trailed en route to posting a 49-36 halftime lead.

Daniels was active on both ends early, scoring nine, hauling down 14 rebounds and picking three steals in the first half. His follow-up basket after his sixth offensive rebound late in the second quarter gave the Express a 49-34 lead, their biggest in the first 24 minutes.

Ritualo sparked his team’s quick start with 11 first quarter points.

Perasol credited his team’s solid performance to the brainstorming initiated by team manager Lito Alvarez.

"Nagtulung-tulong kami na pag-aralan kung paano namin mate-take advantage ang mga mismatches when they play three-big or three-small," he noted.

In the second game, Red Bull made it 2-0 over Alaska Milk with an 80-73 victory.