The Aces, underdogs that they are, grabbed a 2-1 lead in their series Sunday night after the 5-foot-8 Tenorio hit Alaska's final seven points to move within two more victories of claiming a championship playoff seat in the season-ending tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

Tenorio did the most damage in winning time, shooting those seven points inside the final 44.8 seconds, including a cold-blooded three-pointer from the top of the keyhole that gave the Aces the lead they never lost, 86-84.

That shot had come after Jimmy Alapag, another tiny guard, gave the Texters an 84-83 lead when he drilled in a three-pointer of his own on the run with 1:23 left as Talk 'N Text, the elimination round topnotcher, seemed headed to winning a second straight game.

But Tenorio responded to the challenge and drilled in that back-breaking triple before finishing off the Texters with four straight free throws inside the final 11 seconds.

Meanwhile, defending champion San Miguel also took a similar lead over Derby Ace after scoring a physical 74-70 victory in the first game.

Arwind Santos knocked in a three-point shot with 65 seconds left as San Miguel completed a comeback from a whopping 17-point deficit to steal Game 3 and regain the psychological edge in the series after the Beermen had lost an 18-point lead in the second game.

The Beermen held the Llamados to only two points in the last 4:45 and deny James Yap a field goal in the last 14:05 to bounce back from their painful 95-94 Game 2 defeat in Game 2.

"Give us credit on our defense," San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen told reporters. "Talent can go only so far. You have to be able to make stops and give yourself a chance (to win)." San Miguel outscored Derby Ace, 17-12 in the fourth, dramatizing how defense-oriented the series has been.

"Nothing's going to be given to you," added Tanquingcen. "It's very evident that playing against Derby Ace requires that you come in with a lot of energy, which we did not do at the start of the game." San Miguel trailed, 45-28 late in the second quarter after a Don Allado basket.

Apparently, it was the ending the mattered more for San Miguel.

Derby Ace import Tony Washam converted on a step-back jumper with 1:23 left to tie the game for the last time at 70, but the Llamados also aided their downfall with at least three sloppy attempts in the stretch and one bad inbound play.

Santos then broke the game's last tie with that triple and Dondon Hontiveros, who went on to lead the Beermen with 17 markers, sealed the outcome with a split from the line in the final 21.7 seconds for what turned out to be the final score.

San Miguel's defense worked so much that Washam missed 19 of 29 attempts. The Beermen also had 10 less turnovers than the Llamados, who had 27 for the game.

Gabriel Freeman, despite playing just 29 minutes because of foul trouble, was able to pull down 20 rebounds and score 14 points, while Jay Washington, the Game 1 hero, ended with 12 points and eight rebounds.

James Yap, whose last field goal came at the 2:05 mark of the third quarter, wound up with 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting while Don Allado contributed 10 points and nine rebounds for the Llamados, who shot a miserable 9-of-38 from the field in the second half.

The 25 points tallied by Derby Ace in the second half, incidentally, was a conference low and tied the season's lowest.