Buenafe did a crucial key defensive stop in the closing seconds to cap Burger King’s 101-99 come-from-behind victory against luckless Rain or Shine that stopped two straight losses and improved to 4-0 log.

Mark Yee poured in a career-high 21 points including a 3-pointer that brought the Whoppers back into game after trailing by 13 with 7:28 left to play.

Burger King played without head coach Yeng Guiao for nearly three quarters but his absence seemed to have motivated more the Whoppers.

Assistant coach Junel Baculi, who has not worked the sidelines since steering the RP Team to the gold medal in the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand, said he felt nervous but “the players made it easy for me because they refused to quit.”

Down by five at the 1:01 time, Yee took a three-point shot over Mike Hrabak to pull Burger King within 97-99 with 48 seconds left play.

Then Buenafe stole the ball from Gabe Norwood and completed the play with a layup to knot the count.

Ryan Arana lost the ball on the dribble in the Elasto Painters’ next possession and Gary David, who was fouled on the ensuing play, made two free throws to put Burger King ahead with 3.1 seconds to go.

Rain or Shine’s Jeffrei Chan took the potential game winner from the right corner but the shot was blocked by Buenafe who finished with only nine points but made up for it with his excellent play on the other end.

Gary David scored 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting and JR Quinahan added 16 and nine rebounds for the Whoppers, who gave up 30 points on 21 turnovers.

Guiao was ejected with 7:44 left in the second quarter for hurling profanities to the official – first for resenting a flopping call on guard Egay Billiones then took another shot after seeing the replay on a giant screen.

Norwood also turned in a career-high 25 points and Jay-R Reyes made 21 for Rain or Shine, which built a 92-79 advantage into the fourth using an 11-2 run that ended on Norwood’s 3.

Both teams shot 45 percent from the field but Burger King fared better from the foul line. The Whoppers made 17-of-24 free throws while RoS went 22-of-33 from the distance.

The Elasto Painters fell to 3-8.

With Mark Yee and David hitting their shots, Burger King slowly clawed back and pulled within 94-96 on Beau Belga’s free throw with 1:34 remaining.

Belga finished with 12 points and Carlo Sharma contributed 10 points.

Chan quickly answered with a 3 on Rain or Shine’s next possession to stretch the lead to five. But the Elasto Painters turned the ball over in their next two possessions and paid dearly for it.