PBA: Air 21 escapes Alaska for third straight win

Published November 14, 2012 7:19pm

It was a matchup between two former King Archers on Wednesday, as veteran Mike Cortez faced Jayvee Casio. Photo by KC Cruz

Air21 head coach Franz Pumaren rued his lack of a closer early in the conference. Now, it looks like he had his closer in the team all along. Mark Isip scored on a mid-range jumper with only six seconds left in the game to hand the Express their third straight win, 104-103.

"Credit to my coaches; they scouted them well," said Air 21 head coach Franz Pumaren. "The team is still working on chemistry. This is the first time that we beat a .500 team."

A Mac Baracael trey at the 2:05 mark tied the game at 100-all, before Calvin Abueva broke away for a steal and a conversion to give Alaska the lead, 102-100.

Bonbon Custodio tied the game at 102 with 1:30 remaining, before Cyrus Baguio split from the line to give the Aces a one-point lead.

Express head coach Franz Pumaren called a timeout with 17 seconds remaining, opting to lean on Cortez for the final play. The Cool Cal drove inside, drawing the defense only to dish out to Mark Isip for a short jumper.

The Aces had 6.1 seconds to win the game. Baguio dished out to Casio for a three. When Casio missed, Abueva was there for an offensive rebound, but his putback fell short for the final score.

"You have to give it to Alaska, they did not quit," said Pumaren. "It was a good thing that we were still able to regroup and we were able to keep our poise."

It was a painful loss for the Aces who got tremendous games from Calvin Abueva and Mac Baracael.

After trailing by as much as 18 points in the third quarter, the Aces rallied down the stretch to keep the game close. Abueva completed a four point play at the 2:44 mark of the the fourth quarter for a 100-97 count, still in favor of the Express. Baracael knotted it up with another three ball 42 seconds later for the first deadlock of the ball game.

The man they call The Beast then stole the ball from Isip and went on a a one-man fastbreak. He missed a one-handed jam but he got his own rebound for a putback to give the Aces a lead. However, Custodio knotted the game at 102 with a layup seconds later.

In a crazy sequence, Abueva stole the ball from the Express but lost it near half court. Abueva was then clobbered by Rob Reyes after the latter dove for the ball. Abueva spent seconds lying in the floor holding on to his face but he got a steal seconds after making it back to his feet.

Baguio was fouled in their next possession but he only managed a split, which led to Isip's heroics.

The Air21 Express raced to a 10-0 run to start the game which prompted Alaska head coach Luigi Trillo to call two early timeouts in the first three minutes of the game. Mark Isip scored six of Air 21's first 10 points. the Aces finally responded after their second timeout with a 7-0 counter run.

Two free throws by Sonny Thoss at the 5:22 mark of the first quarter gave the Aces their first lead of the game. Nino Canaleta took the lead right back for Air21 with a four point play on the next possession. This started a 19-6 run for the Express to close out the first quarter with a 34-20 lead.

Alaska continued to struggle in the second quarter, and things took a turn for the worse when Calvin Abueva was whistled for his fourth foul with more than 9 minutes left. Their woes were compounded by a three point basket from Nelbert Omolon stretched the Air21 lead to 17 at 46-29.

Gabby Espinas carried most of the scoring for Alaska by dropping 12 points in the first two periods, but a balanced attack from the Express gave them a 61-48 lead come the halftime break.

The Aces came up with a 7-0 run to start the third quarter but the Express countered with six straight points of their own. Abueva was called for his fifth foul at the 7:15 mark of the third quarter off a three point play from James Sena to give the Express another 16 point lead.

The Express took turns in making sure the Aces were kept at bay. Cortez sank a three and Canaleta followed up with a three point play with 3:33 left in the third quarter for a 81-64 bubble. The Aces fought back late in the third quarter with Dondon Hontiveros and Raffy Reyes combined for eight unanswered points to finally cut the Express lead to eight at 84-76.

A three point basket from Reyes at the 9:15 mark of the fourth quarter sliced the Express further to only four, 88-84. This was the closest the Aces got since the middle of the first quarter. The Aces had multiple attempts to slice the lead further, but they missed three straight attempts from rainbow country. Canaleta made the Aces pay by scoring five straight points on his own.

Casio finally made his presence felt in the fourth quarter with a corner pocket three to bring the Express lead back down to four. Cortez, another former King Archer like Casio, took it right back with his own three with 4:22 left in the game.

KG Canaleta was the best player of the game with 21 points, five boards and three assists, as the Express hand the Aces their third straight loss. It was another balanced scoring affair for Air 21, with five other players scoring in double figures in the win.

Mac Baracael had 24 points, with a 4-of-7 shooting clip from beyond the arc. Calvin Abueva, who played limited minutes due to foul trouble, added 17, while Gabby Espinas chipped in 16. - Carlo Pamintuan / Renee Fopalan , GMA News

The scores:

AIR21 104 - Canaleta 21, Wilson 13, Isip 12, Cortez 12, Sena 11, Custodio 11, Omolon 9, Baclao 7, Reyes 6, Arboleda 2, Atkins 0.

ALASKA 103 - Baracael 24, Abueva 17, Espinas 16, Reyes 8, Casio 8, Jazul 7, Thoss 7, Hontiveros 6, Baguio 5, Eman 3, Laure 2, Dela Cruz 0.

Quarters: 34-20, 61-48, 84-76, 104-103.

Tags: air21express, alaskaaces