Just four minutes into a crucial match against Meralco on Friday, Alaska import LD Williams (25 ppg 10 rpg) was banished from the hard-court after being called for a Flagrant Foul Penalty 2 for throwing an elbow to the face of Mac Cardona.

The Aces found themselves painted into a corner and had to deploy the injured Joe De Vance (2nd degree right ankle sprain) to try and soften the blow. JDV heroically hobbled all over the floor, forcing his own contribution (19 pts 8 rebs 8 asts 3 blks), but Alaska was still in trouble.

Down by eight at the half, Tenyente Tenorio started to go to work. The former Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagle started to take the game by the horns: knocking down long shots, slashing to the basket for tear-dops, playing the passing lanes to get to the open floor for layups, snatching crucial boards and feeding open and not-so-open team mates to get on the scoreboard.

But the Bolts did enough to keep the Aces at bay, stretching their lead to as much as 14 in Q3 and looked to protect an 11-point spread with just over threee minutes left in the game.

And that's when Tenorio happened. Lewis Alfred seemingly willed the Aces to the finish line as he buried a couple of long bombs as part of an improbable 11-0 windup to force overtime.

Alaska pulled the rug from under Meralco in the extra session 104-101 with Tenorio scoring all of his career-high 33 points after halftime that went along with 8 boards, 6 assists, 5 steals and 2 shotblocks.

On Sunday, Gilas Pilipinas took to the floor against Powerade without their 6'11 naturalized reinforcement Marcus Douthit (21 ppg 18 rpg) due to an ankle sprain.

And the Tigers pounced on them early, racing off to a 23-point lead as the Nationals seemed pressed for confidence without their big man to back them.

But then, Joseph Evans Casio came off the bench and started to get in stride, looking to do better than his 6-point, 8-rebound, 7-assist performance in an overtime loss to BMEG on Wednesday (where he went 0/5 from distance and 3/16 overall), and he did so in a big way.

JV knocked down 5 of 8 triples this time around (reminiscent of his 5/7 3FGs in a 29-point explosion in their win over RoS last week). Casio spearheaded their counter attack as they cut the deficit down to 13 by halftime.

The former De La Salle Green Archer then started the 3rd quarter where the scoreboard got flipped around. Gilas burned the hoop as they put up 34 points while limiting the Tigers to 16 to take a 76-71 lead into the final frame.

Now in the dying seconds with Gilas down by one-point, JV took it from top of the key. Split two defenders to get to the rim and scoop it up against the last line of defense to give them a one-point lead which proved to be enough to get the National Team back on top of the standings and into the playoffs with their 6th win.

Casio ended the game with another 29-point performance that went along with four boards and six dimes in 35 minutes of action.

These two former Red Cubs definitely spiced up this weekend's entertainment playing their devastating brand of ball. They both dominated in a big way. And while height is still might in the world of hoops, these unassuming ballers reminded everyone once again, that heart is still the biggest factor in the world of sports.

Maggo Marjon, GMA News TV