So when the Nationals tried to pull away entering the final five minutes, it was practically all over. Right?

Wrong.

Marcus Douthit delivered another monster game, Marcio Lassiter provided a clear picture of what he can achieve if he ever turns pro, and Dylan Ababou’s first game turned out to be extra special as the Nationals survived the near loss of an 11-point lead with 4:58 to go and defeated a gutsy Air21 ball club, 102-99 in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Douthit scored 30 points, 13 coming in the third quarter, and grabbed 18 rebounds; Lassiter contributed 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds; while Ababou hit two pressure-laden free throws with 2.7 seconds remaining as Smart-Gilas took a share of the lead with idle Rain or Shine with its third win in a row sans a defeat.

It was one of those outcomes nobody thought would go down the wire.

For how come could a team that beat the last two champions – Talk ’N Text and Alaska – have trouble beating Air21, a franchise that’s struggling even if it acquired four veterans from San Miguel Beer in a blockbuster trade last week?

Rajko Toroman provided the answer.

“We expected that (close game) because we were not 100 percent ready for the game,” Toroman said. “They brought a good import, Chris Tiu has a fever even though he played, Marcus did not practice the past three days and we really did not know how we will perform.”

Their performance was enough to hold back the Express.

Smart-Gilas led 95-84 with 4:58 left to play, and still had a 97-87 advantage with 4:10 to go before Air21 unleashed a 9-0 blast that significantly chopped down the deficit to within one.

But Douthit surprisingly knocked in a turnaround jumper, and Lassiter split his free throws after Wynne Arboleda committed a turnover to make it 100-96 with 1:28 remaining in the game.

Still, it was far from done.

Dondon Hontiveros got fouled while attempting a three-point shot. He missed the first charity, made the second, and deliberately bungled the third that bore fruit – an offensive rebound by Danny Seigle for a putback to make things really interesting, 100-99, time down to its last 7.9 seconds.

The Express then fouled Ababou, and the UST standout nailed down both before JR Reyes, after the Express called for a time-out, misfired on a corner three-pointer as the buzzer sounded.

Alaska bounced back from a painful overtime 91-89 defeat to Smart-Gilas with a squeaker of a victory, nipping rival San Miguel Beer, 96-94, in the nightcap.

The Aces had to hold their breath before coming out with smiles on their faces after David Young, the Beermen’s new import, muffed an open three-point shot at the buzzer. Young replaced Ira Brown, the player who rewarded San Miguel with a win against Meralco last March 4 with a follow-up shot, 90-89.

“It’s difficult every time we play San Miguel,” said Aces coach Tim Cone. “We can’t shake them off. But we won against Ginebra by two and against San Miguel by two and we can’t ask for more.”

The Fiesta Conference champions actually led by as large as 16 points, the last at 55-39 on a pair of free throws by Joe Devance.

But Young exploded in the second half, scoring 12 each in the last two quarters, to change the complexion of the contest.

LD Williams topscored for the Aces with 24 points, Devance had 22, and LA Tenorio had 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Alaska next takes on Derby Ace and then Talk ‘N Text.

Young led the Beermen with 35 points while Jay Washington added 24 while Alex Cabagnot dished off nine assists.

With its third win in four games, Alaska moved up to solo third spot while San Miguel dropped its second match as against a lone victory.

Alpha Bangura, the import Toroman was referring to, led the Express with 27 points and did have the moves to hit it big in the PBA. But the Express may find themselves in deep trouble with their new reinforcement since Bangura allegedly did not obtain his release papers from the team he played for in Lebanon before coming to the Philippines.

If Air21 does not acquire his release papers, it will have to cough up 7,500 euros (P523,000) as penalty to the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, which will turn over the payment to FIBA-Asia.