On Friday night, it was surprising to hear Agustin deviate from his usual post-game analysis. This time, the former MVP was pleased how big a factor an under-rated role player was in his star-studded roster.

"Denok (Miranda) played like the way he did during the finals of the Governors' Cup," said Agustin. "When our shooters went cold, he was the one who took charge."  

Scoreless in the opening quarter, Miranda rebounded to scatter 10 crucial points in the fourth, and Petron's dreaded defense held Barako Bull to only seven points in the final eight minutes in a 75-66 victory in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Miranda was the missing link the Boosters needed when everything seemed to be going astray. Aside from the offense he provided, he orchestrated the plays, found the open men, and supplied the leadership as Petron extended its winning streak to four games while dealing the Energy their fourth defeat in nine outings.

Petron, however, went through rough times first before going through smooth sailing toward the end.

"Well, we started flat really," Agustin said. "But everything was the opposite in the second half. We were aggressive, we fought hard for ball possession."  

It was a low-scoring contest, the kind that Petron loves. But Barako Bull saw itself controlling the contest when it took a 59-54 lead after Don Allado completed a three-point play with 8:12 remaining in the final period.

And then the complexion swiftly took a different twist.

Miranda began making his shots, and Arwind Santos got into the scoring flow as well as the Boosters unloaded a 21-7 blast closing the game.

Miranda finished with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting while Santos had 15 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for his ninth double-double of the season-opening conference. Danny Ildefonso contributed 12 rebounds and eight points.

Willie Miller and Dorian Pena each had 16 points to pace Barako Bull, who were out-rebounded, 55-41, and shot poorer from the field in converting merely 26 of its 73 attempts (35.6 percent). And ageing team, the Energy were also held scoreless in fastbreak points.

With the defeat, Barako Bull dropped into a tie with B-Meg for fifth and sixth spots.

The fight, meantime, for the last quarterfinals berth got more interesting after Alaska scored its highest output in the last five conferences and got back at Powerade in a game later in the night, 121-111.

The Aces finally played the form they were expected to showcase, leading by as many as 14 points before repulsing the Tigers' rally to book their only second win in nine outings.

That leaves Alaska just half-a-game behind Powerade, which suffered its seventh loss in 10 games. The Aces are likely to match the Tigers' record tomorrow when they oppose winless Shopinas.com.

Tony De La Cruz collected 23 points and eight rebounds and was awarded the game's best player honors.

"Id' rather score zero points and get all the wins," said De La Cruz.

"But this (victory) got us back on track."   "Now we have to be smarter because we will have three games in six days," said Alaska coach Joel Banal. "I just hope we will have the same intensity attacking the basket when the face Shopinas.com on Sunday."  

LA Tenorio and De La Cruz had 23 points apiece for the Aces, who negated the career-high effort of JV Casio. The No. 1 pick in the Draft scored 26 points while Marcio Lassiter added 25.

In winning, Alaska acquired some measure of revenge against Powerade, which was the one that won in their first encounter last Oct. 16, 79-67.

Today, defending champion Talk 'N Text and Rain or Shine collide in a game pitting the best two teams so far in the conference, clashing with the solo lead at stake in an out-of-town game in Cagayan de Oro City.

The Texters possess a 7-1 (win-loss) record while the Painters are close behind at 7-2, and the winner of the 6:45 p.m. contest will secure the top spot heading into the homestretch stage of the.

Talk 'N Text will be eyeing a repeat victory over Rain or Shine, which it beat 107-98 last Oct. 14.

The Texters will still miss the services of Jimmy Alapag, Ryan Reyes and Aaron Aban to injuries, but have always been able to draw support from Jared Dillinger, Jayson Castro and Japeth Aguilar, who in the franchise's previous game, collected 16 points and 11 rebounds in a 96-873 win against Shopinas.com.