MANILA, 12 April 2007 — The night was supposed to belong to Alex Cabagnot and Kenneth Duremdes.

And that made most everyone forget about Dennis Miranda and Rock Winston.

In a clash between teams that figured in the blockbuster trade of the tournament, Miranda and Winston stole the thunder and led Sta. Lucia to a 103-100 victory over Coca-Cola last night that put the Realtors back in the PBA Fiesta Cup mix again.

Miranda came off the bench and did what a starting point guard should do, shooting 14 points while displaying tremendous poise in holding the Realtors together in the stretch.

Sta. Lucia thus won for the third time in seven games while dealing the Tigers their fourth straight loss despite coming into the game the rock-solid favorites after having acquired Cabagnot and Duremdes in a lopsided deal.

Winston, who came into the game averaging a measly 17 points, fired 29 against the Tigers, grabbed 11 rebounds and fed five times in a sterling performance that literally extended his PBA career.

Cabagnot did not do too bad, hitting 14 points and finishing with eight assists. But he failed to deliver at the crunch when Miranda got going and fouled out after 37 minutes.

Duremdes, the 1998 MVP, played sparingly and finished with just six points. Anthony Johnson led the Tigers with 26, with Ali Peek backing him up with 19 points.

Galen Young was also supposed to have the night to his own. Alaska, though, had plans that really centered on spoiling that.

“I had butterflies coming into this game,” Alaska coach Tim Cone said, moments after steering the Aces to a 94-84 conquest of San Miguel and his former import in the second game that gave Alaska a piece of the lead at the Araneta Coliseum.

Young, San Miguel’s fourth import who replaced Paul McMillan, was Cone’s import in 2004, when the Aces last had at least a share of a tournament lead.

The Aces led by as many as 20 points in the third period, 75-55, before holding off the Beermen in a wild finish to improve to 6-2, the same slates now being held by idle Red Bull and the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, who incidentally, will battle Purefoods in an official game tomorrow in Dubai.

Willie Miller tossed in 25 points and Rosell Ellis added 23 and 18 rebounds to pace the Aces, the team of the 1990s who are still looking to win their first title this decade.

Young, who got out of a contract in Europe to suit up for San Miguel, struggled big time. He was 4-of-23 from the field and finished with just 12 points in 42 minutes, the amount of time San Miguel hopes he would need to shake off jet lag and put the Beermen back in contention. He did grab 12 rebounds and dished off seven assists.

San Miguel took its seventh loss in eight games and remained in the cellar, a full two games behind the last slot if the playoffs were to start today.

Meanwhile, San Miguel scoring machine Danny Seigle topped the voting held for the starters in the All-Star Game scheduled next week.

The 6-foot-7 forward earned a starting slot in the South squad after garnering a total of 118,260 votes as the Southerners shoot for a second straight win over the North in the annual classic which will be played this year in chilly Baguio.

Eric Menk of Ginebra tallied 104,784 votes to join Seigle at forward for the South, which will also start San Miguel’s Dondon Hontiveros (83,808), reigning MVP James Yap (106,004) of Purefoods and Talk ‘N Text man-mountain Asi Taulava (79,000).

Ginebra’s backcourt of Mark Caguioa and Jay-Jay Helterbrand, who amassed 101,172 and 96,204 votes, respectively, banner the North squad that seeks to avenge a 122-120 loss last year in Cagayan.

Purefoods’ Kerby Raymundo and Danny Ildefonso of San Miguel, after getting 50,392 and 41,884 votes, respectively, are the North forwards, with San Miguel’s Rommel Adducul, despite averaging just four points and 4.4 rebounds in the Fiesta Cup, bagging the center’s spot after getting 63,384 votes.

Of the starters, only Purefoods’ Yap, who is averaging more than 25 points a game, Menk, Ildefonso and Adducul who are seeing action in the current Fiesta Cup, the others being named earlier to the National team.