MANILA: The Alaska Aces had to use all the weapons in their arsenal to be able to subdue the hard-fighting defending champion B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados, 92-87, Wednesday night in the 2010 PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City. Led by their twin towers Joe Devance and Sonny Thoss, the Aces used their height advantage to the fullest to snare their second straight win in the conference. De Vance scored 24 points and pulled down seven rebounds while Thoss had 10 points and 21 rebounds. The Llamados suffered their second straight loss as they continued to miss the services of Kerby Raymundo, Mark Pingris and Rafi Reavis, three frontliners who remained sidelined by injuries. Peter June Simon topscored for the Llamados with 16 points. In the first game, Jeff Chan drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer as the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters downed the Air 21 Express, 89-86, for their first win in the conference after their opening game loss against the Powerade Tigers last Oct. 6. With the score tied at 86-all, Solomon Mercado drove to the lane hounded by three Air21 defenders. Instead of forcing a basket, he then whipped up a pass to Chan who was left wide outside the three-point arc on the left plank. Chan coolly sank the three-pointer as the buzzer sounded. The former Far Eastern University star guard finished with a team-high 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds, including an impressive 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. The win gave the Painters a 1-1 win-loss card while the Express suffered their second straight loss. Top rookie pick Nonoy Baclao played his first game for Air21 but finished with just four points. The 6-foot-4 forward from the Ateneo Eagles missed the Express' opening game against San Miguel Friday of last week due to a hyper-extended knee. Mercado had 14 points for Rain or Shine, but could only split his free throws with 15.9 seconds left for an 86-84 lead. It was a heart-breaking loss for the Express after they overhauled a 40-50 deficit at the half to take a 74-71 lead entering the final period. Air21 was still on top, 82-77 but then inexplicably turned cold in the next five minutes. Seizing the opportunity, the Painters scored eight unanswered points to seize the lead at 85-82 with 3:04 remaining.
