Games Wednesday (Araneta Coliseum)
5:00 p.m. — Barako Bull vs Purefoods
7:30 p.m. — Alaska vs San Miguel

Coach Yeng Guiao was ejected early but this failed to stop Burger King from pulling off a gutsy 101-99 come-from-behind win over Rain or Shine to boost its playoff hopes in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Third year guard Ronjay Buenafe, an off-season acquisition, made the big plays at crunch time as the Whoppers reaffirmed their mastery over the Elasto Painters following their first round win (91-89) improve their record to 4-7.

The former Emilio Aguinaldo College standout, who had nine points, first stole the leather from Gabe Norwood and converted a lay-up that tied the score at 99-all with 35.4 seconds left in the game.

After that, he tapped the ball off the hands of Ryan Arana and was picked up by JR Quinahan. Then Gary David made the go-ahead free throws after he was fouled by Arana with 3.1 seconds to play for a 101-99 advantage.

Coming off a timeout, the Elasto Painters, who fell to 3-8 and their two-game win streak snapped, went to sophomore Jeffrei Chan but his shot from the three-point territory was blocked by Buenafe as time expired.

With the Whoppers up 36-34, Guioa was thrown out following consecutive technical fouls at the 7:44 mark of the second period for using profane words on the referees.

In the second game, veteran point guard Roger Yap scored a personal conference-high 21 points, including a jumper that sparked a decisive 16-6 run, which erased a 73-75 deficit midway in the fourth quarter, as Purefoods defeated Barangay Ginebra, 89-81.

The win extended the Giants’ winning streak to three and in the way ended the Kings’ three-game run. The victory also created a three-way tie for third between Purefoods, Ginebra and defending champion Talk ’N Text all with 7-4 win-loss cards.

Meanwhile, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has finally come to terms with American import Jamal Sampson to be the naturalized player-candidate of the Smart-Gilas Pilipinas national team.

Sampson will replace the ineffective CJ Giles, who was dropped from the team for his attitude problem.