“It’s not great, but it’s not bad,” Uichico said of Storey’s performance in a 98-91 victory by Barangay Ginebra over Coca-Cola in the Fiesta Cup last night where his under-the-microscope import scored 20 points and grabbed 18 rebounds at the Araneta Coliseum.

“The question here is: can the import bring you to the championship? You have to assess that as the tournament goes on,” Uichico continued. “If you think he can do that without being explosive offensively, you stick with him.

“Maybe two, three or four games because he gives us the numbers anyway.” Ronald Tubid scored 18 points and JC Intal and Cyrus Baguio had 13 each coming off the bench as the Gin Kings, after a lopsided loss last week that had Storey shooting just 13 points, snapped Coca-Cola’s three-game winning streak to rise to 2-1.

James Penny fired 21 of his 32 points in the final two periods and Gary David hit 19 of his 25 in the same stretch as the duo tried, in vain, to turn things around for the Tigers, who nonetheless remained on top with a 3-1 record.

Things almost got out of hand with 21.7 seconds remaining and the score standing at 95-87 when David lay on the floor in pain after taking an elbow from Storey which officials did not see.

David was awarded two free throws because of a Flagrant Foul 1 infraction and the Tigers had a chance to make it a one possession game after Chico Lanete was awarded three free throws in the ensuing possession awarded Coca-Cola because of the call.

But Lanete made just two and Jay-Jay Helterbrand split his free throws on the other end to make it 96-91 and put the game to bed with a shade over 15 seconds left on the clock.

“In the end, we didn’t play as smart as we should have. We gave up easy points. We got them (Tigers) back into the game,” Uichico said. “Hopefully we can keep on improving every game.” Rain or Shine earlier slapped a third straight loss on Barako Coffee, 90-82, pounding it out even with import Jai Lewis sitting on the bench for the final 12:24.

“We need to give them (opponents) different looks (at us) every game,” Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia said when asked why he benched Lewis in the final period, which started with his Elasto Painters just sitting on a 60-56 spread.

“There wasn’t a point to bring Jai (Lewis) back in the game, the locals were having such a good game,” he continued. “I actually asked him in the final six minutes if he still wanted to play, and he told me the same thing – that the locals were playing so well.” Lewis hit the bench after scattering 20 points and plucking down 13 rebounds but five of Rain or Shine’s locals contributed double-digit outputs as the Painters blasted the Coffee Masters for their second straight win.

Jay-R Reyes scored 13 of his 15 points in the final period, bouncing back from a three-point performance in Rain or Shine’s 84-77 win over Sta. Lucia Realty exactly a week ago that also kept Lewis on the bench.

“Jay-R came in toward the end of the third quarter and the ball movement of the team improved,” said Garcia.

Gabe Norwood also had a superlative night with 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as the Painters also tied idle defending champion San Miguel Beer in second spot with a 2-1 record.

Solomon Mercado had 11 points and six assists while Jeff Chan and Ryan Arana combined for 21 points for Rain or Shine, which held Coffee Masters’ import Sammy Monroe to only one-of-eight shooting from the three-point territory and 10-of-28 overall for 27 points.

“Right now, we’re playing with a lot of confidence,” Norwood, admittedly tuckered out after chasing Monroe all over the court all night, told reporters after being named the Best Player of the game. “We’re just trying to get better.” Monroe’s support staff just couldn’t do the job to back him up with only Jojo Duncil shooting 13 and Aris Dimaunahan and Rob Wainwright chipping in 11 and 10, respectively as Barako Coffee shot a woeful 35.4% from the field.

A 21-5 bomb by Rain or Shine at the start of the second period had the Painters zooming to a 34-14 lead entering the final eight minutes of the first half, and it was all that the Painters needed to seize control.