The Derby Ace forward sealed his place in the league with a performance like no other Friday night after he flew over three people before throwing the ball down in a tomahawk motion to rule the All-Star Week’s Slam Dunk contest over Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia.

What made it more difficult was the fact that he didn’t practice the move, for it was one which was brought about by the toughness of the competition, a slam for the ages that he thought off minutes before pulling it out.

“There were some pretty good dunks out there by Kelly, so I had to think out of the box and execute something which I didn’t practice,” Canaleta said in Filipino. “I can’t say that I will be back to defend next year, maybe I will just try my luck in the Three-Point shootout.”

That dunk gave him his third 50 of the competition as he won the slam-off with Williams, whose twisting, double-handed reverse jam could only give him a 45 from the judges.

Canaleta won the event for the fourth time, and this one, he said, was the most special since the best of the crop were here with defending champion Gabe Norwood finishing third and JC Intal of Barangay Ginebra and Rico Maierhofer of Derby Ace fourth and fifth, respectively.

“Winning this event is always special because I can give the fans a thrill,” Canaleta, who put a huge Puerto Princesa Coliseum crowd on its feet with his dunks, added. “And more so since all the best dunkers in the league are in the field.”

“Yeah, I think I had a chance, but It’s hard to beat someone who jumps off people that keep multiplying,” Sta. Lucia’s Williams said, totally awed that Canaleta went on to dunk over three people when he started dunking over one.

“I have been waiting my whole career to have a slam-off with KG. And I tell you, that was fun,” added Williams, the winner two seasons ago.

Canaleta admitted to practicing that routine over just one utility personnel of Derby Ace.

But when push came to shove after Williams electrified the crowd in his own thunderous ways, he felt the need to do some drastic things.

And drastic they were.

His second 50 came when he leapt off two people, doing it in his first dunk in the finals after Williams had scored a 46.

Williams then notched a perfect score of his own in his next attempt, where he bounced the ball off the floor so high before taking it at the top of its flight and twisting for a reverse slam that was very reminiscent of NBA legend Dominique Wilkins.

Canaleta, maybe feeling he already had a lock on the event, then did a between-the-legs dunk that was made famous more than a decade ago in the NBA, and this only got a 46 from the judges which allowed Williams to tie the score and take it to a slam-off.

“I was surprised that they (judges) didn’t like that one,” Canaleta said. “That’s why I attempted the dunk over three people, never mind if I didn’t get the chance to practice it.”

Meanwhile, with a smooth and deadly touch, Coca-Cola’s Mark Macapagal won the Three-Point shootout by nipping fellow longshot Jeff Chan of Rain or Shine, 13-12, in the finals.

Seeing action in the event for the first time, the 30-year-old Macapagal scored just enough to triumph as he and Chan were joined by Barako Coffee’s Yousif Aljamal in completing a roster of finalists that were almost neglected at the start.

“I honestly thought that I was not even in the Top Five (coming into the event),” Macapagal told reporters at courtside in Filipino. “Now I can’t believe that I stood there in the middle (of the court) to receive this award.”

Defending champion James Yap couldn’t even come close to making the finals, shooting just seven points in the preliminaries to occupy the bottom of the 10-man field.