INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel ran with Air21 all throughout a game that went through two overtimes before Lordy Tugade sealed a 130-129 triumph that lifted the Beermen to the solo lead Wednesday night in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup.

The sweet-shooting swingman also had two huge treys midway through the first extension before hitting four crucial free throws before a boisterous Araneta Coliseum crowd.

But Air21 plans to put the game under protest after a triple by Ranidel De Ocampo was counted as two points despite television replays showing that he was behind the three-point line.

“Definitely, we will put the game under protest,” Air21 coach Bo Perasol told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

The protest is expected to boil down into a question of technicality. League rules say that coaches can challenge a ruling on three-point shots in the last two minutes of every quarter as long as the quarter is still in play.

De Ocampo made his jumper with nine seconds left and his triple should have given Air21 a 123-122 lead instead of the 122-122 tie that forged the second overtime.

Perasol said he asked for a challenge but referee Mar Montiel allegedly told him the challenge was inadmissible because the ball was live. The only dead ball came when the clock finally hit zero and by then, the challenge was already inadmissible.

Pending an overrule or an order for a replay, San Miguel will rise to 6-2, while the Express will drop to 3-5 with their second straight loss—both coming in extra time.

“I give credit to my players for hanging in there,” said a tired San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen minutes later at the press room.

The Express had a three-point lead with 5.6 seconds left in regulation, 110-107, after two Wynne Arboleda free throws, but Dondon Hontiveros came off the bench and tossed in the equalizing triple with 3.1 ticks on the clock.

The Express played catch-up in the first overtime, needing to come back from as many as five points down, 120-115, before pulling even at 122 after that De Ocampo jumper.

Tugade then drilled four straight free throws in a 37-second span from 2:24, which made it 130-127 heading into the final 1:47.

Air21’s last gasp came through a JR Quiñahan short stab that eventually settled the final count as Arboleda got tied up by Jay Washington and Olsen Racela in the final 1.1 seconds for a jumpball that doomed the Express.

The Express actually rallied from a 19-point deficit early in the fourth quarter, using a 20-1 run anchored on David to pull even at 94 and make it a nip-and-tuck affair until the very end.

But the Express took their first blow when David was left with no choice but to give up his sixth foul on a cutting Bonbon Custodio with still 35.2 seconds left in regulation.

Still, David finished with a personal season-best 36 points, his 30 second half points proving to be the most by any local since Asi Taulava scored 33 in a 131-105 Talk ‘N Text victory over Purefoods in May 16, 2004.

The scores:

SAN MIGUEL 130—Hontiveros 25, Pena 22, Washington 19, Custodio 17, Tugade 15, Racela 15, Gonzales 8, Bono 7, Villanueva 2, Pingris 0, Pennisi 0.

AIR21 129—David 36, Arboleda 23, Santos 15, Se 15, Quinahan 12, Intal 7, Canaleta 7, Cruz 6, De Ocampo 5, Kramer 3, Sta. Maria 0, Billones 0.

Quarters: 26-21, 53-38, 84-71, 110-110, 122-122 (1OT), 130-129 (2OT)