Lewis seals Painters record run over Burger King

MANILA, Philippines - Jai Lewis outshone Shawn Daniels in a duel of heavy imports, dishing out another superb all-around game as Rain or Shine recorded a new franchise record run of four straight wins with a 118-112 decision over Burger King in the Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

Lewis, a 290-pound banger of an import, bulldozed his way to 40 points and hauled down 23 rebounds, personally clinching the game for the Elasto Painters with two crucial charities in the last nine seconds of play.

“Jai was simply incredible. He did everything for us today, rebounding, scoring and defending. He’s really very valuable for this team,” said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia after Lewis powered the team to a record fourth win in a row and fifth overall in six games in all.

The previous best run of the Asian Coating Inc. franchise was three games set in the recent Philippine Cup where the team finished sixth.

“The biggest thing really is that Jai is giving us a big lift, and the team is enjoying the ride. Everyone’s enjoying the game whether they’re playing or not,” said Garcia.

“For Jai, I think he got more inspired to play as we told him we’re giving him a seven-day break after our Sta. Lucia game (tomorrow). That’s the only thing he asked from us. He’s been away from home for seven months now,” Garcia also said.

Lewis outclassed Daniels, a 275-pounder, going 4-of-6 from the three-point area, 7-of-9 from the two-point zone and 14-of-16 from the stripe.

After committing six errors in the first half, the former George Mason U stalwart took only one turnover and banged away 30 points in the final half to deal Burger King its third loss against four wins.

Rain or Shine was down by four, 104-108, when Lewis knocked in two foul shots, put up a defensive gem against Daniels then rifled in a trey to shove the team to a 109-108 with time down to 1:16.

The Elasto Painters went on to stretch their lead to 114-108 on a lay-up by JayR Reyes and three charities by Donald Dulay with two off technical fouls resulting to BK coach Yeng Guiao’s ejection with 28 seconds left to play.

The Whoppers, however, refused to bow out and came through with a four-point binge by Gary David but Lewis sealed the Rain or Shine win by sinking pressure-packed free throws with only nine seconds left.

Reyes, Dulay, Sol Mercado and Allan Salangsang contributed double-digit outputs for Rain or Shine while David and Arwind Santos led BK with 27 and 22 points while Daniels concentrated on defending against Lewis.

Daniels finished with only eight points, seven rebounds, five steals and two assists.

Jay Washington and Dondon Hontiveros pumped in 19 points apiece while Gabe Freeman grabbed 16 rebounds and added 13 points as San Miguel stretched its unbeaten run to six games and sent Barangay Ginebra reeling to a fifth straight defeat on a 95-80 victory in the second game.

“We’re being tremendously blessed before the Holy Week,” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen, whose team is carrying a perfect 6-0 win-loss card going into the long break.

San Miguel’s next game is on Easter Sunday against Rain or Shine with Danny Ildefonso likely to be back in action.