MANILA — The Petron Blaze Boosters found themselves stupefied after they fell asleep and got steamrollered by an unbelievably resurgent Alaska Aces who blitzed them 33-6 en route to a record-breaking 79-71 win in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday. Playing like superheroes in the final quarter, the Alaska triumvirate of Cyrus Baguio, Calvin Abueva and JVee Casio propelled the Aces to the biggest comeback yet in the conference. Baguio spearheaded the Alaska offense with 20 points, scoring half of them in the fourth quarter. Abueva and Casio likewise shone brightest in that stretch despite feeling ill before the game. Abueva, who had not yet fully recovered from a second-degree ankle sprain he suffered from their last game, contributed 12 points. That was the same output by Casio who was nursing a fever just before the game. After spewing fire for three quarters the Boosters suddenly and inexplicably went blind in the final canto.
They converted just one shot after nearly nine minutes as the Aces swept them off their feet with their relentless energy and firepower. Alaska thus finished with an 8-6 win-loss mark in the elimination, good for solo fourth in the standings, while Petron fell to seventh place at 6-8. Even Alaska head coach Luigi Trillo was amazed at how his players pulled out the win. “There were injuries all around, but these guys just willed themselves to victory. I was kind of quiet during the huddle and going through the motions, but these guys just don't want to quit,” he said. In the first game of the double-header, K.G. Canaleta exploded for a career-high 41 points as the Air21 Express drubbed the Globalport Batang Pier, 113-92, improving the Express' chances of taking the last slot in the eight-team quarterfinals. Canaleta's output nearly matched the highest recorded score by a local player in the league which was set by Gary David on Oct. 20, 2011 when he scored 42 points to lead Powerade to a 108-84 win against Petron. The athletic 6'5” forward shot 6-of-9 from three-point range and grabbed seven rebounds. He already had 21 points in the first half, the most scored by any player at the half this season. In the second quarter, he singlehandedly turned a close game into a rout when he poured 16 points. Air21 head coach Franz Pumaren heaped praises on the former Ginebra wingman. “When I got him (Canaleta), I wanted him to prove himself and be considered as one of the top players in the PBA,” he said. “He's really talented. It was just unfortunate that he played before for teams loaded with star players.” Canaleta stayed hot in the second half as the Express padded their lead to as high as 25 points, 86-51, in the third quarter from which the Batang Pier never recovered. GlobalPort suffered its ninth straight defeat and fell to a 1-12 record. The Express improved to 5-9, getting half a game ahead of the Barako Bull Energy Cola (4-9) who face the tall order of beating the tough-as-nails Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (8-5) Friday to be able to tie the Express and force a rubber match for the eighth and last quarterfinals slot.
