Cardona takes over as Air21 nips Alaska

Mark Cardona of Air21 (light) vs Dondon Hontiveros of Alaska (dark). NUKI SABIO/PBA

MANILA, Philippines—Mac Cardona took over down the stretch and towed Air21to a 91-88 victory over Alaska Friday night in the 2014 PBA Governors’ Cup.

Cardona matched JVee Casio’s nine-point spurt down the stretch with his own heroics as he nailed five straight points to put the Express ahead for good, 87-86, with a minute and half to play.

Aldrech Ramos knocked down the dagger with 13.4 ticks remaining as Casio, after scoring three straight treys, turned the ball over twice in the final two minutes.

“Nice win for us. This one is so fuilfiing because despite us playing terrible, we were able to survive it,” said Air21 head coach Franz Pumaren.

“Mac mac really stepped up. He made some big shots that gave us enough cushion.”

Cardona finished with 14 points, all in the second half, as import Dominique Sutton added 22 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and four steals.

The Express broke off from a tie with the Aces and gained a 3-1 record.

Casio led the Aces with 18 points, accounting for all but one in an 11-2 run that gave them an 86-82 lead with 2:37 left to play, but committed costly miscues later on.

The next time Alaska would score was with 9.2 ticks left on a basket by Sonny Thoss, leaving the Aces little time and space to tie the game.

The Aces dropped to 2-2, the first loss under new head coach Alex Compton.