Imports of lesser stuff would understandably feel discouraged.

Not Wise.

Petron’s gutsy reinforcement scattered a combined 15 points in the fourth and in the overtime periods, punctuating it with a pair of free throws in the final 28.4 seconds of extra time and the Boosters got away with a classic 82-81 victory over Alaska Sunday night in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Wise shot 4-of-9 in the game’s last 17 minutes after going 1-of-11 from the field in the first three quarters, a remarkable rebound that came when the Boosters needed contribution in a game that went through a wild, wild finish that cost the Aces a possible victory they intend to nail down to stretch their two-game winning streak.

But Alaska played far from the solid form it was always known to possess when crunch time approaches, running into a spate of bad decisions and lost opportunities and dropping its third game in five outings to fall into seventh spot.

“Breaks lang talaga nagkatalo ang game,” said Petron coach Ato Agustin. “Pero malaki ang improvement sa defense namin and also sa ball rotation.”  The game that started as an eye-sore ended as a contest of splendor.

Cyrus Baguio, who was shooting 0-of-8 from the floor and fielded back in the final 54 seconds of regulation, hit a cold-blooded triple with 16.5 seconds to go to tie the count at 73, with Petron failing to score anymore after Wise’s fade-away jumper rolled out and Arwind Santos’ desperation corner jumper flubbed.

Overtime was an epic, too. The Aces were behind 80-78 when Wesley Gonzales hit a huge three-point shot with 38.1 seconds. But Gonzales committed his sixth foul on Wise 10 seconds later to send the Petron import to the line, and Wise knocked in both for an 82-81 lead.

That left Alaska with 15 seconds to win the game or at least send the match into a second OT. But Baguio got fouled with 15 seconds remaining and the man who could have ended hero drifted into an opposite direction when he missed both free throws.

Arwind Santos pulled down the defensive rebound, and then heaved an overhead pass to Sunday Salvacion down-court. But the pass was slightly strong, forcing Salvacion to sprint to the baseline to save the leather.

Salvacion did save it, but the ball ended in the arms of Baguio, who then flicked a pass to LA Tenorio. The Alaska guard, instead of calling a time-out, then launched a three-point shot that missed. Tony De La Cruz grabbed the offensive rebound and let loose his own attempt, but misfired as time expired.

With the win, Petron bounced back from an embarrassing 113-83 defeat against Rain or Shine on June 24, moving up in the standings with a 3-2 (win-loss) record.

The Elasto Painters failed to follow up that emphatic victory later in the night, absorbing a 98-96 loss to Powerade.

William Antonio hit a three-point shot at the left corner to break a 91-91 tie in the final 26.2 seconds, and the Tigers protected their lead the rest of the way to book their only second win in five outings and with three games left before the next stage begins.

Gary David, playing in his third game after suffering a fractured left hand, collected 28 points while import Chris Porter had a monster game of 25 points, 24 rebounds and six steals as Powerade kept alive its hopes of snapping a seven-conference absence in the post elimination round phase.

“It really helped a lot that Gary is back,” said Powerade coach Bo Perasol. “But before anything else, I had a talk with the guys before the game that we have to overcome ourselves. There are a lot of fears in our hearts, apathy, maybe even mediocrity.”  The Painters thus were foiled from joining Talk ‘N Text at the top of the standings, being dealt with their second loss as against three wins to drop into a tie with B-Meg and Petron at second spot.

Santos topscored for Petron with 22 points and 19 rebounds, while Wise added 18 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals.

Jason Forte led Alaska with 26 points and 18 rebounds, while Gonzales had 14 points.

In a related development, Talk ‘N Text players and officials went through tormenting moments in Dubai when their flight back home to Manila was canceled after the promoter of the Dubai series – Ramon Pizarras — failed to settle unpaid hotel bills.

Aboy Castro, the Texters’ team manager, said that all personnel from the PBA and the two others teams that saw action in the two-game series in Dubai – Ginebra and B-Meg — were able to leave for home on time except for the telecom franchise.

Chot Reyes, the TNT coach, blamed the PBA for the way the series was handled.

“I warned the PBA about him (Pizarras), pero tinuloy pa rin,” Reyes said in his Twitter account. “Unbelievable how badly the PBA handled this trip.”  Castro said that the TNT players shouldered the ticket expenses themselves.

Talk ‘N Text split its Dubai series, winning against Ginebra, 123-113 on Friday after coming up short against B-Meg, 111-105, the day before.