MANILA — Facing a relentless foe, the San Mig Coffee Mixers stood their ground and refused to surrender. With the streaking Alaska Aces erasing a 10-point deficit to pull ahead 83-82 with less than a minute remaining, Marc Pingris hit the game-winning jumper as the Mixers regained the upper hand, 84-83, and held on for the win in a PBA Commissioner's Cup thriller Saturday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Aces still had a chance to tie the game or take the lead with 12.1 seconds left after Calvin Abueva was sent to the charity stripe. However, the fiery rookie forward missed his first free throw. Before he could launch his second free throw, a bizarre thing happened. The referees whistled a double lane violation and called for a jump ball as players from both squads entered the shaded lane even before Abueva could release his second free throw, which went in, and could have tied the game. Alaska head coach Luigi Trillo vehemently protested the call. The Aces recovered the ball after the jump ball and still had chances to win the game but Abueva failed to score on a daredevil drive. Alaska still got the rebound but Cyrus Baguio's open three-pointer also clanked out. However, Alaska team manager Dickie Bachman said they are placing the game under protest over the questionable double lane violation call made by the referees. “This is the first time I saw it (the call on double-lane violation before an attempt was made) happened. We just want to clarify because it's a big game, at least, we could have got it to overtime,” Bachman said. Trillo said that erroneous call practically decided the outcome of the game. “It's a free throw. Why blow the whistle? Calvin was trying to make the shot. It really just pulled our hearts out and took the game from us,” Trillo rued. Abueva scored eight of Alaska's last 13 points in last four minutes of the game. He finished with a personal career-high of 27 points. Despite the heartbreaker, Alaska remained as the solo leader of the conference with a 7-3 win-loss card. The Mixers climbed into a tie with the Air21Express for fifth to sixth place with its fifth win in 10 games. San Mig Coffee's Denzel Bowles led all scorers with 30 points while Mark Barroca and PJ Simon added 16 and 14 points respectively. Alaska continued to miss the services of JVee Casio who remained in sick bay. With Casio out, RJ Jazul stepped up, contributing 19 points, including back-to-back three pointers in the fourth quarter that allowed the Aces to catch up with the Mixers. Import Robert Dozier added 15 points. In the first game of the rare Saturday double-header, the Air21Express scored their fourth straight win, coming from behind to whip the GlobalPort Batang Pier, 87-72. Import Michael Dunigan once again led the Express with 22 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists. Air21 improved to 5-5 while GlobalPort (2-8) stayed glued at the bottom with their seventh straight loss. Four local Air21players — KG Canaleta, Mike Cortez, Bitoy Omolon, and Wynne Arboleda — finished in double figures.
