Derby Ace’s hard-to-contain offensive weapon scored the first five points in extra time, and the Llamados took it from there to finish the job in handing Smart-Gilas its first defeat in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, a 98-90 win that injected life in their bid of advancing to the playoffs Wednesday night at the Araneta Colizeum.

Frustrated after failing to reward Derby Ace with victory in regulation after missing an open shot with two seconds left to play, Simon came back to convert a three-point shot and a reverse lay-up after pulling down the rebound off his own miss in overtime, supplying the Llamados with the five-point cushion on their way to their third win in seven games.

“We made the big plays in the end. We just kept it close,” said Derby Ace coach Jorge Gallent. “Had we lost, our chances of making the playoffs would have been slim. It became 50-50 now.”

The Llamados played without its two-time MVP James Yap because of a calf injury, and were still without Rico Maierhofer (knee), Rafi Reavies (foot), Jonas Villanueva (ankle), Don Allado (heel), and Jondan Salvador (knee) – also on injuries.

But they did draw a superb effort from outgoing import Shamari Spears, Marc Pingris, Kerby Raymundo and Nino Canaleta, who knocked in a triple with 53 seconds to go in overtime to practically seal the result, 96-90.

Spears had 26 points, Simon finished with 20, Pingris had 19 rebounds and 18 points, while Raymundo added 17 points and 12 rebounds for Derby Ace, which will parade a new import in Courtney Beasley when it squares off with sister-team San Miguel Beer on Sunday.

The Nationals played the final 23 minutes of the contest without their big man Marcus Douthit. The 6-foot-11 naturalized player injured his left ankle after landing on the foot of Canaleta after converting a basket with 5:27 left in the third quarter.

That took away the intimidating presence Smart-Gilas has always been known for at the middle, giving Derby Ace the room to operate at the low post.

“If Douthit was there, mahihirapan kami,” Gallent said. “He’s a big factor. Even if he doesn’t block shots his presence is very intimidating.”

But the Nationals, who once led by 63-53 in the third period, still gave the Llamados a fight they wouldn’t forget.

After regulation play ended at 86-86, they found themselves down 91-86 and 93-88 with 1:33 remaining in the contest. But Chris Tiu intercepted a pass by Roger Yap that led to a conversion by JV Casio to make it a 93-90 ball game.

Canaleta, however, threw a gutsy three-point attempt at the right corner that found the mark, and Tiu missed a layup at the other end before Pingris connected on a follow-up to seal the outcome, 98-90 with 16.1 seconds remaining.

The first loss of the Nationals denied the guest team their formal entry into the six-team quarterfinal round. They, however, have three games remaining in the elimination round and could clinch a spot in the playoffs with a victory in any of those matches against Powerade, Ginebra or Meralco.

Marnel Baracael led the Nationals with 19 points, Tiu ended up with 16, while Marcio Lassiter and Douthit each contributed 14. Douthit also settled with eight rebounds.

In the battle between teams fighting to earn a crack at a spot for the playoffs, Meralco beat Powerade, 111-88 for its second straight win.

Meralco thus rose to 2-4 overall, still out of playoff range but definitely with the momentum to get there.

Mac Cardona scattered 22 to lead Meralco, which dealt the Tigers a fifth loss in seven games for ninth spot, just half-a-game up on struggling powerhouse San Miguel Beer.