Petron keeps unbeaten run with another close win

AFTER barely escaping the Alaska Aces in their last assignment, the Petron Blaze Boosters dodged a bullet again to keep their unbeaten record intact as they survived the Air21 Express, 90-88, last night in the 39th PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum

Alex Cabagnot marked his return from injury with a heroic act, sinking the game-wining shot with 3.5 seconds left as the Boosters bagged their sixth straight win to tighten their grip of the solo lead.

The Express faltered again after snapping their five-game slide last week and dropped to the bottom of the standings with a 1-6 card.

Air21, however, didn’t cave in easily with Mac Cardona and KG Canaleta providing crucial points in the endgame.

The Express had their last taste of the lead at 82-81, when Cardona completed a three-point play with 1:24 left. Marcio Lassiter hit a trey then added a fastbreak layup to give Petron an 86-82 lead with 49.8 seconds left.

Canaleta made it a one-point game with a corner three-pointer but June Mar Fajardo answered with two freebies for an 88-85 Petron lead with 28.6 seconds remaining.

Canaleta sank another booming triple to tie the count at 88, 20.2 seconds left on the clock before Cabagnot, using a solid pick provided by Fajardo drove the lane for the game-winning tear-drop shot.

With no timeout left, the Express hurriedly inbounded the ball from underneath Petron’s goal but Bonbon Custodio fumbled with the ball as time expired.

Air21 was led by the 24-point output of Cardona.

BOX SCORES

PETRON (90) – Lutz 25, Santos 14, Fajardo 13, Lassiter 12, Ross 10, Cabagnot 10, Hubalde 4, Lanete 2, Duncil 0, Kramer 0.

AIR21 (88) – Cardona 24, Taulava 16, Canaleta 11, Camson 10, Manuel 10, Arboleda 6, Sharma 4, Custodio 4, Jaime 3, Matias 0, Burtscher 0, Espiritu 0, Yeo 0. QUARTERSCORES: 19-10, 39-39, 59-60, 90-88. /EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA