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For
three quarters, the Air21 Express played as cold as the
chilly December breeze but warmed up just in time to
pull off an 88-80 victory over the shorthanded Welcoat
Dragons last night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City
Arwind
Santos made 10 of 18 field goals and went nine-for-nine
from the line to finish with a game-high 29 points that
went with his 16 rebounds as the Express bounced back
from Friday’s 108-95 loss against the Red Bull Barakos.
The
Express, who came back from several double-digit
deficits, trailed 80-77 with four minutes remaining, but
closed out the game with an 11-0 run. Ranidel de Ocampo,
who had 15 points and as many rebounds, had six points
in that killer spurt as Air21 improved to 5-5 (win-loss)
record to join the middle of the pack in the PBA
Philippine Cup.
“I had a
bad feeling that we’ll be struggling so do away with our
pregame huddle. They know that Air21 will be without
[Jay-R] Reyes and [Rob] Wainwright. So all I did was to
remind them where we are at the moment in the
standings,” offered Air21 coach Bo Perasol, referring to
his team.
Even
without their two key players, the Dragons got off to a
fast start and built comfortable 16-point lead late in
the opening period on a three-pointer by Joe Devance.
But the
Express were lucky because the Dragons couldn’t play
consistently and they managed to get back into the game
with their defense.
“I
really thought the turnovers made the big difference,”
Perasol said.
Welcoat
was still sitting comfortably on 10-point lead early in
the third when Air21 showed some sense of urgency and
tightened on their defense.
In a
span of 35 seconds in the third, the Express forced the
Dragons to two successive turnovers using their
half-court press. And with Santos, who took charge in
the second and third quarters, slowly picking up his
rhythm so did the Express.
Bad
decision-making by Welcoat’s backcourt also played a
role in the Dragons’ meltdown.
By the
end of the third quarter Welcoat was up only, 64-60.
The two
teams traded baskets in the first five minutes of the
fourth quarter before Wynne Arboleda hit a three-pointer
to put Air21 ahead, 77-74.
But
rookie Ryan Araña and Jireh Ibañez answered with
back-to-back threes as Welcoat reclaimed the lead,
80-77.
Those
two baskets turned out to be Welcoat’s last though as
the Dragons missed their last eight field goals and
turned the ball three times.
Araña
scored 17 points and Ibanez had 16 for Welcoat which
picked up its third straight loss and dropped to 3-8.
Joe
Devance and Nic Belasco had 11 points a piece but the
two stars disappeared when the team needed them. Belasco
also had 12 rebounds but accounted for six of Welcoat’s
22 turnovers that netted the Express 29 big points. |
