Alex Cabagnot returned from a long layoff and played as if he never left.

The 6-foot point guard drilled in the game-winning floater on Wednesday night as Petron Blaze extended its winning run in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations to six games following a 90-88 nipping of Air21 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Absent in the first five Petron victories to open the season, Cabagnot found himself wide open near the shaded area and swooshed in the marginal basket with 3.5 seconds left that kept the Boosters as the only unbeaten side in the 10-team field.

The loss was the sixth in seven games overall for the Express, who played their hearts out and dragged the heavyweight Boosters in a nip-and-tuck game in the stretch.

Petron got more than a scare than it anticipated against the Express, as KG Canaleta rifled in two triples in a 19-second span that forged the game’s last tie at 88, only for the Air21 defense to fold up after that.

Coming off a timeout, Cabagnot got the inbounds pass in the final 20 seconds and was ready to milk the clock and go for the last shot.

Making his way into the left side, Cabagnot moved past a screen set up by June Mar Fajardo, but found a wide open spot when Asi Taulava refused to leave Fajardo to help out.

Cabagnot then continued his dribble and then launched a running, floating one-handed jumper that hit nothing but the bottom of the net and just 3.5 seconds left on the clock.

Left with no timeout, Bonbon Custodio advanced the ball for the Express only to be met by a triple team near halfcourt at the buzzer.

“It’s going to be a big confidence boost for Alex, coming off a long layoff,” Petron coach Gee Abanilla said. “Air21 challenged us till the end, tons of credit to them.”

The loss was a particularly bitter one to swallow for the Express, who were hoping to put together a win streak after snapping a five-game losing streak.

“We need a lot of patience. We have guys coming in and we need to get that chemistry back,” added Abanilla, who also welcomed back another point guard in Chris Ross and is also expecting two more veterans to return in the next couple of weeks.

Air21 later found company in San Mig Coffee, which blew an 18-point third quarter lead to go down, 72-64, against giant-killer Meralco in the nightcap.

The Bolts, getting energized by John Wilson and Jared Dillinger, held the Mixers to just 27 second half points and to just 10 in the fourth quarter to rise to an even 3-3 record and stay in the middle of the pack.

Wilson scored all of his 19 points in the second half, outscoring the entire San Mig crew in the fourth by tossing in 12 points. Reynel Hugnatan finished with 16 points and Dillinger 13, with both combining for another 14 fourth quarter points.

“It’s a great testament to the fantastic resolve that we played with out there,” Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio said. “Our shift from the man-to-man to the zone (defense) was the key. It got them out of their rhythm.”

Wilson, the former NCAA MVP while with Jose Rizal College, brought the Bolts back to life by scoring from inside and out. His performance also kept leading scorer Gary David on the bench for most of the second half.

Actually, Gregorio stayed with the five that mounted the rally from 33-51 down, leaving Wilson, Dillinger, Hugnatan, second-tier guard Chris Timberlake and Sunday Salvacion huffing and puffing after the game.

James Yap, playing with a heavily-bandaged right elbow, scored 14 points and paced all San Mig shooters for the first time in the season. But like the others, the former two-time MVP was held to harmless numbers in the fourth.

Marc Pingris fired 12 points and Mark Barroca 11 for the Mixers.