Free Pick: Rain or Shine+3.5 (PBA) W

Preview: Enjoying its best start in years, Coca-Cola tries to regain the solo lead when it battles Rain or Shine this Friday in the PBA Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Tigers face the Elasto Painters at 5 p.m., while the Talk ’N Text Tropang Texters shoot for a third straight win when they tackle the Barako Bull Coffee Masters at 7:30 p.m.

Coke is currently tied for the lead with defending champion San Miguel Beer with similar 4-1 win-loss cards following its stunning 79-76 win over B-Meg Derby Ace the other day.

The defeat was B-Meg’s first in nine games since the semis of the Philippine Cup. The Llamados completed a rare four-game sweep of Alaska Milk in the finals and won their first two games in the season-ending tournament.

Meantime, Alaska finally barged into the win-column after dropping its first two games with a 105-95 win over Air21 Wednesday.

The Tigers beat the Llamados without import James Penny who missed the last five minutes of the game after he was accidentally elbowed by B-Meg import Lo Wade that caused a deep vertical cut on his right eye brow.

Penny, who finished with 20 points and 18 rebounds, will play Friday and is expected to anchor the team against the Painters who hope to bounce back after a 100-98 defeat to Ginebra last Saturday in Victorias, Negros Occidental.

In that game, Rain or Shine controlled the match, leading as many as 15 points only to lose steam down the stretch.

What was galling was that they had the chance to send the game into overtime or win it with a three-pointer. Import Jai Lewis received the ball with 13 seconds left Lewis wasted a lot of time trying to find a shot and failed to make a decent attempt.

For Rain or Shine to win, they should not only focus on stopping Penny but also find ways on how to limit the production of Asi Taulava, Gary David, and Mark Macapagal.

Coca-Cola mentor Bo Perasol described their win against B-Meg as “character defining moment” but said they need to put more intensity on their game especially against the young guns of Rain or Shine, led by Gabe Norwood and Sol Mercado.

“I hope we can carry playing this way,” Perasol said. “Rain or Shine is a tough team because they’re running and their import is very talented.”

Barako Bull Coffee, meanwhile, hopes to end a four-game losing skid after a successful opening game with a win over Sta. Lucia (93-97). The Coffee Masters recently lost to the SMB Beermen (82-106).