MANILA: Six years is quite a long time to wait, and after so many hardships, it seems that Air21 will not have to endure anymore.
The Express were clinical in dismantling Magnolia last night, moving within another victory of making the Fiesta Cup title series after a 92-82 decision of the Beverage Masters at the Araneta Coliseum.
Air21 established control early and simply managed the game the rest of the way, keeping the Beverage Masters in arm’s length all night to fashion out the most lopsided win in the series for a 3-2 lead. The Express are the oldest team in the field never to have reached a championship series, entering the league in 2002 with their best finish coming in this same tournament three years ago with Shawn Daniels in tow. Game 6 is scheduled tomorrow at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay with everything pointing to another Air21 win since Dondon Hontiveros limped out of the court in the second quarter and was not used since.
“There really is still no reason to rejoice,” coach Bo Perasol told scribes after the game, watched by a lean crowd at the Big Dome. “This is not over yet.” Gary David, the most prolific local for Air21 in these playoffs, scored 20 points, Ranidel De Ocampo added 18 and Homer Se, Arwind Santos and Steven Thomas all scored in twin figures for another 39 to fuel the Express.
The average winning margin of any team in this series coming into last night’s game, save for the series-opener which Air21 played without Thomas, was just 2.3 points.
Which made it quite surprising to see Air21 scooting to an 11-point first quarter lead before bloating this to 36-20 with 9:43 left in the second period after a basket by rookie point guard Marvin Cruz.
“I’m quite sure that they missed a lot with Dondon (Hontiveros) out,” said Air21 coach Bo Perasol, “It would be sweeter for us if we beat them (in the series) with Dondon inside. I don’t want it (championship appearance) to be tainted.
“But personally, I wish him well.” The winner of this series will go on to face crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra in a best-of-seven series that starts Wednesday, and Thomas is also not going to rest on his laurels, even with momentum now on their side. Amal McCaskill led the Beverage Masters with 23 points and 15 rebounds but got little help from the locals. With Hontiveros limited to just seven points in eight minutes, only Lordy Tugade and Dorian Pena stepped up.Mike Cortez was held to just six points and Danny Seigle, Magnolia’s superstar swingman who has not been healthy this post-season, laid a big fat egg after 14 minutes on the floor.
“We will still take it one game at a time,” said Thomas. “Magnolia is a very talented team and we can’t relax. Our chances (of winning the series) are good because my local guys are playing phenomenal. “They’re doing everything else out there,” he said. “All I have to do is stand.”
Meanwhile, best buddies Mark Caguioa and Jay-Jay Helterbrand of Barangay Ginebra are locked in a tight race for the Best Player of the Conference plum, running 1-2 in the statistical points race.
This marks the first time in recent memory that teammates — and very close buddies — will be disputing the prestigious award.
Caguioa, the tournament’s leading local scorer with a 22.9 average, and Helterbrand, who leads all-comers in assists with a 6.3 norm, are being separated by just two-tenths of a point in the statistical points-average race.
The 6-foot firebrand had a 32.62 SP total in playing 21 games, while Helterbrand, whom Talk ‘N Text coach Chot Reyes once described as the “best point guard in Asia,” had a 32.42 average after their semifinal schedule.
