Canaleta leads Llamados to wild win over Texters

A controversial call and a split free throw put to an end the longest winning run in the 2010 PBA Fiesta Cup. KG Canaleta sank the game-winning basket with a split, eight-tenths of a second left in the game clock, to emerge as the unlikely hero in Derby Ace's gripping 88-87 victory over Talk 'N Text Saturday night at the Tacloban City Convention Center.

The Llamados' win ended the Tropang Texters' 13-game winning streak. Canaleta's end-game heroics came just as the Tropang Texters came back from a five-point deficit in the final 70 seconds of a Phoenix Fuel-PBA on Tour game in this port city that serves as Leyte province’s capital. The game was tied at 87 with 1.4 seconds and Derby Ace in possession when Harvey Carey was called for a foul on Canaleta, a decision that didn’t sit well with Talk 'N Text coach Chot Reyes. The outspoken mentor almost walked out of the court in the aftermath of the contentious call, but was persuaded by team officials to remain on the bench. He watched Canaleta sank the winning free throw and saw his team lose for only the third time in 17 matches. The Tropang Texters, whose last setback was on March 31 against defending champion San Miguel (112-106) stayed on top of the standings despite the defeat. They already clinched the No. 1 ranking in the semifinals as early as last week. It was the Llamados who gained the most following the pulsating win, lifting their record to 11-5 overall and remain very much in contention for the final outright semis berth. Cliff Brown led Derby Ace with 24 points, James Yap added 19, Roger Yap had 11 while Canaleta and Simon scored nine each, including two free throws with 1:10 left in the tightly-fought game that gave the Llamados an 86-81 lead. But the Tropang Texters made one final push in a futile attempt to salvage the longest winning streak in franchise history – and in the ongoing season-ending meet. They came close to pulling it as Ranidel de Ocampo hit a three-pointer to make it a two-point game. And following a split by Brown from the foul line, Mac Cardona buried another triple to tie the game at 87 that opened the door for the dramatic endgame finish. De Ocampo finished with 16 points for the Tropang Texters, who also got 11 each from Jimmy Alapag and Shawn Daniels. Kelly Williams was down with the flu and failed to suit up for the Texters. – JVP, GMANews.TV