Arwind Santos exploded for 24 points, including clutch hits in the final quarter, as the defending champions San Miguel Beermen choked the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 102-94, Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum. Santos also had nine rebounds and four shot blocks in an impressive display of offensive and defensive might. Their fifth win in six games kept the Beermen alone at the top of standings in the 2010 Fiesta Conference. The loss dropped the Kings into a tie for fourth to fifth place with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, both with a 3-2 win-loss slate. With all their starters catching fire early and their defensive plays in full harness, the Beermen quickly pulled away. But just as the Beermen were about to go on cruise-mode after leading by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, the Kings unleashed a 10-0 bomb to trim their deficit to 10 at the start of the final quarter. The Kings pressed their assault in the final canto, coming to within three, 91-94, before the last two-minute mark. But Santos doused the rallying Kings with a clutch three-pointer. That proved to be the turning point of the game as the Kings never recovered from then on. Gabe Freeman contributed 25 points, Dondon Hontiveros had 19 while Alex Cabagnot chipped in 16 in a balanced display of San Miguel's vaunted fireworker. Freeman outclassed his Ginebra counterpart, Awvee Storey in both offense and defense. Storey eventually fouled out of the game with 6:32 left, finishing with 14 points. In the first match of the double-header, Anthony Johnson erupted for a conference-high and career-tying 43 points to lead the Sta. Lucia Realtors to a 106-98 overtime win against the hard-fighting Air21 Express. The win improved Sta. Lucia's record to 2-4 while the loss sent Air21 crashing to the bottom of the standings in the company of Barako Energy Coffee Masters, both with a 1-5 card. Johnson scored 11 of Sta. Lucia's 15 points in the overtime period, stopping the Express on their tracks after the latter uncorked a 20-0 blast to come to within four, 58-62, nearing the end of the third quarter. After Sta. Lucia took a 73-63 lead going into the fourth quarter, the Express made another huge run, dropping a 19-4 bomb to take the lead at 82-77 with exactly six minutes left in regulation. The Realtors, however, grabbed back the lead for good, 91
