THE Air21 Express relied on their vaunted defense in beating the Coca-Cola Tigers, 102-95, in last night’s Smart-Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.

Heads-up plays by Wynne Arboleda and Arwind Santos along with few but crucial executions from veteran Homer Se in the closing minutes gave the win to the Express, who are mourning with the demise of the father of Air21 president and team manager Lito Alvarez.

“We are dedicating this game to the father of our team manager who passed away last Friday,” said head coach Bo Perasol.

Alvarez’ father Aquilino died Friday at age 84.

Second import George Gervin Jr. nearly had a decent debut for Coke but committed critical errors that led to the Tigers’ downfall.

After sinking a three-pointer with nearly three minutes remaining in the game with the Express ahead, 93-87, Gervin fumbled a pass to fellow American reinforcement Jason Dixon.

That error gave the Express an uncontested fast break but Gervin committed another blunder as he fouled an already airborne Santos, who completed the play. Although Santos missed the bonus shot, the situation gave Air21 the momentum they needed to seal the victory.

Santos finished with 21 points, 10 in the final period, while Arboleda added 17 points, 11 in the fourth. Se also had 17 points—with one under-goal stab—in the dying minutes of the game.

Gervin topscored for the Tigers with 26 points besides issuing six assists, but his lean frame may well be the chink in his armor, a factor that could make Tigers coach Binky Favis consider other available reinforcements.

Dixon could only contribute 16 points, way below his conference average of 30.7 points. The only positive note in Coke’s game was the 1,000th career offensive rebound achieved by Mark Telan.

Air21 zoomed to a 24-9 lead late in the first quarter on a left-handed layup by rookie Doug Kramer.

But Gervin, who planed in last week but had to sit out one game, led an 8-1 rally where he scored four points in ending the first quarter, cutting the Express lead, 25-17. Gervin sat out the Tigers’ 98-96 win over Welcoat as he was said to be coming off a 20-hour trip.

Like what happened in the first 12 minutes of action, Air21 had a good start in the second quarter and established a 38-27 lead under eight minutes to play.

Wynne and Arwind power Air21

THE Air21 Express relied on their vaunted defense in beating the Coca-Cola Tigers, 102-95, in last night’s Smart-Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.

ABS-CBN appears to have edge in PBA bidding war

IT looks like television giant ABS-CBN has the pole for the right to become the television coveror of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) next season.

THE score may look close, but the world-class Uzbekistan emphatically proved the better team against the Philippines in Group I.

Denis Istomin capped his unbeaten campaign in the tie by sweeping Cecil Mamiit, 6-3, 6-0, 6-4, Sunday under hot conditions at the Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) indoor shell clay courts.

ADAMSON University scored a revenge of sorts against Far Eastern University (FEU), annexing a 25-17, 25-11, 25-22 victory Sunday to complete its sweep of the first-round action in the Shakey’s V-League Season 5 at The Arena in San Juan.

Roberto “Superman” Gomez will have another shot at becoming a world champion as he bested a huge field of aspirants to rule the first qualifying tournament for the 2008 World 8-Ball Championship Saturday at the Amir Billiards Club in Fujairah City, United Arab Emirates.

DAD, is the Dalai Lama an animal?”

Thus asked my son over a late breakfast the other day that gave me pause from alternating reading the newspaper and watching the US NCAA Championship game.