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Thursday, November 17, 2005
Express erases 20-pt. gap
AIR21 exacted sweet revenge on Alaska as the Express rallied from 23 points down in the second half to beat the Aces, 88-83, in the opening game yesterday of the San Mig Coffee-PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.
In the nightcap, Ginebra defeated league-leading Purefoods, 90-80, to fortify its hold of third spot.
The Express, which lost to the Aces in double overtime, 111-108, the first time they met, used a big fourth-quarter surge after trailing for more than three quarters to secure Air21’s fifth win in 10 games.
3-way tie
The victory created a three-way jam at fourth spot with Alaska and Red Bull Barako with a 5-5 slate each.
Gary David inked a career-high 28 points on a 9-of-19 field-goal shooting and 8-of-9 clip from the free-throw area to bag the Best Player of the Game award.
Air21 got its first taste of the lead, 80-79, in the last two minutes and two seconds of the game after David’s charity shots capped a 16-0 run by the Express after being down by as many as 23 points in the final half.
Endgame
Ranidel de Ocampo extended the Express’ edge to three before Don Allado brought Alaska to within one, 81-82, in the next play.
But the Express would not let go of the momentum as de Ocampo scored another basket off an assist by import Shawn Daniels then split his charities in the next play to stretch Air21’s advantage.
A booming trey from Winnie Arboleda in the last 16.8 seconds decided the game for Air21 as the Aces absorbed their third straight loss. (JSV)
(November 17, 2005 issue)
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