MANILA: Maybe Bo Perasol was just imagining things when he tried crediting his team’s newfound defensive outlook in winning a third straight game.
Gary David put an end to a high-scoring match by draining a three-pointer at the buzzer which resulted in a 109-107 Air21 victory over Alaska last night that sustained the Express’ remarkable rise from the doldrums at the Araneta Coliseum.
Designated as the second option in the final play, David broke out of the clamps of Willie Miller and flicked in the game-winner as Air21 rose to a level 3-3 while denying the Aces the solo lead by dealing them their second straight loss.
Alaska dropped to 4-2 and is now in the company of idle San Miguel, which can take the lead to itself with a win against defending champion Sta. Lucia in a lone game scheduled at 6 o’clock tonight the Ynares Arena in Pasig.
“After losing our first three games, we agreed to have a paradigm shift that we needed to become a defensive team,” Perasol told scribes later. “We are thinking of our defense now. Our offense has been free-wheeling.
“I think we were still able to disrupt them (Aces),” said Perasol, whose team had a total of 15 steals and made 12-of-37 three-point attempts. But it was not all defense that did the trick for the Express, who still gave up those many points and were trailing by one with one second left after a defensive breakdown that left Miller wide open underneath for 107-106.
“The initial play was for an alley-oop for Arwind ( Santos ),” Perasol said. “ Gary was the second option. But I knew that Gary would make the shot, especially if he is open.”
Santos finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds in leading the Express and winning Player of the Game honors from the television panel. David wound up with 18 and Miller had 20 for the Aces.
Air21 erased a 16-point deficit early in the second quarter using an unrelenting full court press and an offense that didn’t see any letup with Gary David knotting the game for the first time at 53 with a short jumper in the dying seconds of the first half.
Joe Devance, who scored 16 points in a losing cause against Talk ‘N Text on Wednesday, ignited the fiery Alaska offense right in the first quarter by drilling in 15 points built around three conversions from beyond the three-point arc.
Devance went on to finish with 25 points, including his fourth triple with 1:27 left that put the Aces back in the fight at 103-106, before Miller scored four straight points for that one-point Alaska lead.
Picked first overall by Welcoat in last season’s Draft before being shipped to the Aces for who turned out to be Solomon Mercado, Devance made all of his five attempts in the first period.
The Express also aided Alaska ‘s early breakaway by committing eight turnovers as the Aces, who came into the contest averaging just six fastbreak points, had 10 points off transition right in the first 12 minutes.
A two-handed Sonny Thoss dunk off a Tenorio assist, which finished off a 3-on-2 break, gave the Aces a 35-21 lead. Another hot side which is very much on a tear was Red Bull, which brought down a third straight heavyweight, Talk ‘N Text, in the second game after a 104-102 victory in the second game.
The Barako, without a doubt the weakest team on paper in the tournament, also climbed to 3-3, the same record now being held by the Tropang Texters, who followed the fates of Barangay Ginebra and the Beermen.
Gabby Espinas scored a career-high 20 points and paced the Barako together with the ever-reliable Cyrus Baguio as red Bull survived the ejection of coach Yeng Guiao because of technicals.
“Even without coach Yeng, the boys know exactly what they need to do because we have a system and we prepare hard for each game,” Gee Abanilla, Guiao’s assistant who called the shots from the waning seconds of the third quarter, said.
