MANILA: Alex Cabagnot sank a tightly contested acrobatic shot at the buzzer to push the San Miguel Beermen to a pulsating 99-97 win against the Alaska Aces Wednesday night in the 2010 PBA Philippine Cup at the jampacked Araneta Coliseum. Cabagnot finished with 10 points, 10 assists and four rebounds to lead the Beermen to their third straight win in the conference against a single loss. Arwind Santos led all scorers with 27 points, 17 of them in the first half. With the win, San Miguel remained on top of the standings with a 4-1win-loss card in a tie with the Talk N Text Tropang Texters. The Aces suffered their second straight loss following an 89-86 defeat to the Air21 Express last Oct. 22. They tied the Barangay Ginebra Kings for joint third to fourth spot in the rankings, both with a 3-2 mark. In an explosive rematch between two teams that figured in the last import-laced Fiesta Cup Finals won by Alaska 4-2, the Beermen proved steadier in the clutches this time as they razed a 19-point Aces' lead in the first half to grab a five-point lead, 92-87, with 4:41 left in the game. But the Aces struck back with a 9-4 blast to tie the game for only the fourth time at 96-all. After Santos and LA Tenorio both split their charities to tie the game again at 97-all with 11.5 seconds left, Cabagnot zigzagged his way to the basket and buried a fadeaway jackrabbit shot with the outstretched hands of Tenorio at his face to give San Miguel the lead with 0.3 left, hardly giving Alaska any chance to strike back. The win was a fitting followup to the Beermen's overwhelming performance over the weekend when they scored a conference-high 119 points against the 94 of the Powerade Tigers in Panabo City. San Miguel won that game even in the absence of Jay Washington (strained muscle) and Joseph Yeo (sprained ankle). In the first game, the Talk N Text Tropang Texters devoured the Powerade Tigers, 108-89, to notched their fourth win in five games, tying San Miguel at the top of the standings. Asian Games-bound Kelly Williams led the Texters with 21 points and 16 rebounds. The Tigers fell to 3
