Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — Petron Blaze import Renaldo Balkman went bonkers Friday night, choking teammate Arwind Santos, angrily pushing away other teammates, defying his own coaches, and taunting referees in a wild and wooly end to a bizarre game against the Alaska Aces. With the Aces safely ahead, 81-73, with 21.6 seconds left, the 6'6” Petron Blaze import suddenly lost his cool after a non-call on an offensive play. The former New York Knicks first round pick angrily confronted the referees and shoved his own coaches and players who tried to pacify him. When Santos moved in to cool him down, Balkman shoved him away, too. Santos retaliated by pushing him back, prompting the volatile import to grab his own teammate's neck. Teammates and coaches then rushed in to separate the two players. Balkman was promptly replaced, as the Aces scored the final basket to win 83-73 in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. After the game, PBA Commissioner Chito Salud immediately announced that Balkman has been summoned to appear before him Monday. Balkman faces possible suspension from the league for his outrageous action. Alaska thus regained solo leadership of the tournament with its sixth win in seven games. Import Robert Dozier led the Aces with 18 points and 26 rebounds. Sonny Thoss added 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Denok Miranda paced the Boosters with 17 points as Petron Blaze saw its five-game winning streak come to an end. The Boosters thus slid to solo third with a 5-2 win-loss card. Petron was ahead 70-69 late in the final quarter when Dondon Hontiveros nailed a three-point shot to spark a 7-0 run as the Aces took a 76-70 lead with 2:14 remaining. Alex Cabagnot drained a three-pointer to cut the lead to 73-76, but that proved to be the closest the Boosters could get as the Aces answered with a flurry of baskets. In the first game of the Friday double-header, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters survived a spirited rally by the GlobalPort Batang Pier to win, 103-95. Chris Tiu and Gabe Norwood hit the key baskets late in the game to bail Rain or Shine out of trouble as GlobalPort nearly wiped out an 18-point deficit. Tiu and Norwood combined for 21 points in the fourth quarter. With its fifth win in six games, Rain or Shine climbed to solo second place in the standings. It was a sorry loss for the Batang Pier who had all the chances to turn the game around in the dying minutes through the heady plays of Sol Mercado, Gary David and Willie Miller. But they sputtered in the endgame when it mattered most as they suffered their fourth straight loss and fifth in seven games, falling to solo eighth place in the standings. Import Justin Williams played his final game for GlobalPort, finishing with just six points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks. He is set to be replaced by Walter Sharpe, the 32nd pick overall by the Seattle Supersonics in the 2008 NBA draft who has played for four teams in the NBA D-League.
