They kept their poise when their shots wouldn’t fall. And they hung tough even when they were down
by 14 points late in the third quarter.

In the end their perseverance rewarded the Air21 Express a come-from-behind 102-95 victory that
stunned the Powerade Tigers Wednesday night in a Philippine Cup elimination round game at the
Araneta Coliseum.

Ronjay Buenafe scored 11 of his personal conference-high 28 points in the fourth quarter, including
two crucial plays in the final 64 seconds that virtually sealed the win, 100-95, time down to 34
seconds.

“I really thought we already lost the game. They [Tigers] just relaxed a bit in the third and
that allowed us to make a run,” offered Air21 coach Yeng Guiao, who still called the fruit of
their efforts an “ugly win”.

“We just got lucky. But we’ll take it even if this is not the way to win games,” he
emphasized.

The Express improved to a 3-3 (win-loss) record which Guiao said was well within their target.

“For a young team like ours [3-3] is not bad. I think we’ll get better. We’re pretty much
where we thought we would be,” said the feisty coach.

Buenafe also got huge support from their bench with JR Quinahan leading the support crew with 19
points, which was also a personal conference-high. Wesley Gonzales added 10
points and reserve guard Josh Urbuiztondo had seven assists and two steals which helped spark
Air21’s third quarter rally.

It was a jolting loss for the Tigers, who controlled most part of the game and appeared headed to
their second straight victory when they built a 69-55 advantage on Dennis Espino’s lay-up with
3:38 to play in the third.

And as the Express continued to struggle to get their rhythm, the Tigers started to mess around.
They repeatedly threw ill-advised shots, loosened their defense and eventually lost their focus.

By the time they realized it, the Express, who labored on defense to compensate for their poor
shooting, had started hitting their shots and were slowly gaining momentum.

“We just kept shooting the ball. Finally, we made our shots in the second half,” Guiao said.

The Express shot a woeful 24 percent from the field in the first half. But their offense improved
in the third (55.6 percent) and got even better in the fourth (66.7 percent).

Air21 tied the count at 87-87 on a four-point play by Buenafe and a lay-up by Quinahan with 6:43 to
play before top rookie pick Noy Baclao hit a turnaround shot to put the Express ahead.

Powerade regained the lead at 95-93 behind an 8-0 run before going scoreless in the final two
minutes and 58 seconds.

Gary David turned in 28 points to share scoring honors with Buenafe.

Norman Gonzales added 16 and Mark Macapagal added 12 for the Tigers, who turned the ball over 25
times and dropped to 3-4 a (win-loss) record. (DBC)

The scores:

Air21 102 - Buenafe 28, Quinahan 19, Gonzales 10, Matias 9, Al-Husssaini 7,Najorda 7, Baclao 6,
Urbiztondo 4, Sharma 4, Arboleda 4, Guevarra 2, Rodriguez 2.

Powerade 95 - David 28, Gonzales 16, Macapagal 12, Espino 9, Reyes R. 7, Lanete 6, Laure 6, Ritualo
6, Rizada 3, Calimag 2, Reyes J. 0, Allera 0, Enrile 0.

Quarterscores: 11-17, 41-47, 68-71, 102-95