MANILA: It was another night of horrid free throw shooting for Rain or Shine.
It was also another night for Jai Lewis to bail the Elasto Painters out.
The burly Lewis again scored on a crucial follow-up inside the final minute last night to propel the Painters to a 103-97 win over Barako Bull that kept them well in the fight for an automatic Final Four slot in the PBA Fiesta Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Lewis scored seven of the Painters’ final 11 points, capping a 27-point night with a put-back of his own miss with 50.3 seconds left to break the game’s final deadlock at 97 and boost Rain or Shine to its third straight win.
At 8-5, the Painters are now tugging at the coattails of the league-leading San Miguel Beermen, and coach Caloy Garcia hopes that his wards could hold it together for at least another game in order for the franchise to make the semifinals outright for the first time.
“It was a hard-fought win,” said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia. “There was pressure before the game. We’re not used to being in this position (solo second place).”
The Painters, who also got rescued by a Lewis follow-up with three-tenths of a second left for a 118-108 overtime victory over Talk ‘N Text last week, missed 15 of 36 free throws last night.
In that victory over the Tropang Texters, the Painters were a horrendous 25-of-45 from the charity stripe, but were still good enough to beat a team as talented as Talk ‘N Text.
Incidentally, Talk ‘N Text allowed the Painters to keep sole possession of second place for the moment after pounding out a classic 135-129 double overtime win over Burger King in the second game.
Rashad Bell, flown in silently on Monday by the Texters to replace Gary Forbes, hit Talk ‘N Text’s final four points after forging the second extra period at 119-all with a triple to cap a 35-point, 14-rebound night. But it was tiny Jimmy Alapag, left out of the national team by Burger King coach Yeng Guiao, who stood tallest at the crunch, hitting some clutch baskets and dishing off some key assists to help the Texters rise to 7-6.
The loss was the first in the last three games for the Whoppers, but it could prove to be telling since Burger King dropped into a tie with the Texters and missed keeping in step with the Painters.
Alapag finished with 18 points and 10 assists, while Mac Cardona, after shooting 22 points in the first three quarters, had his only bucket from there at the final 1:26, a triple, which gave the Texters the lead to stay, 129-127.
“I just felt that I needed to take charge in the end,” said Alapag, who also collared seven rebounds. “We needed to be aggressive, and that’s exactly what we did tonight. Burger King was very tough.”
Cardona went on to contribute 25 with Jared Dillinger adding 17 and Ranidel De Ocampo 12 for the Texters. Shawn Daniels led the Whoppers with 27 points and 15 boards, with Gary David adding 23.
“We are continuing to address that weakness of ours,” Garcia said when asked of his team’s poor free throw percentage. “Just like in our past games, I still get nervous whenever we take free throws.”
Lewis, who came in as a replacement for Charles Clark three games into the tournament, also plucked down 14 rebounds and was a great intimidating factor underneath.
The locals also did their job, with four finishing with 11 or better with former cornerstone Jay-R Reyes scattering 16 and Gabe Norwood shooting 12 and having seven rebounds.
Rain or Shine winds up its elimination round stint against Coca-Cola tomorrow at the Ynares Center in Antipolo with a top two finish guaranteeing the squad of its longest appearance in eight tournaments.
“I just wish we could stay focused and keep the momentum going,” Garcia said.
Daryan Salvy led the Energy Boosters with 24 points. He also had nine rebounds and eight assists for the squad that will finish dead last in the eliminations for the second straight tournament.
That was the lowest output in three games for Barako Bull’s third import and it was not helped by the fact that he fouled out with still 1:52 remaining on a bum call made by one of the officials where Ryan Arana flopped and Selvy was called for a loose ball foul.
Barako Bull lost for the seventh straight time and dropped to 2-11. In finishing 10th, the Boosters will need to win twice against their foe in the wildcard phase in order to stay alive in the playoffs.
