Meralco import Eric Dawson (R) loses the ball to Petron forward Dorian Pena as Meralco's Mac Cardona (L) and Petron's Joseph Yeo look on in Wednesday's action in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — A walk in the park suddenly became a harrowing escape from disaster for the Petron Blaze Boosters Wednesday. Up by 22 points at the end of the third quarter, the Boosters suddenly and inexplicably froze, allowing the Meralco Bolts to go on a searing 17-0 run in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter. The Boosters were staring at the prospect of a ignominious defeat when the Bolts cut the lead to a single point, 86-87, on a three-pointer by Chris Ross with less than 24 seconds remaining. After Petron's Denok Miranda split his two charities, Meralco had the chance to tie or take the lead. But Lady Luck appeared to be on the side of the Boosters as Ross missed on a layup. Still, Petron failed to ice the game as import Renaldo Balkman lost the ball at the end line, giving the Bolts one last shot to complete their astonishing turnaround. Again, Ross had the ball as the seconds ticked away. As he was about to drive strong to the basket, Balkman rushed forward to deny him the space, forcing the spitfire guard to pass to his teammate Vic Manuel whose desperation three-pointer at the buzzer clanked out. The Boosters heaved a humongous sigh of relief as they won, 88-86, in the main game of Wednesday's PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Petron picked up its third straight win after an opening game loss to take solo second in the standings. In sharp contrast, Meralco suffered its third straight loss after winning its first game to drop to solo eighth place in the 10-team competition. Balkman continued to lead the Boosters, finishing with 26 points, 11 rebounds and five block shots. However, the Meralco defense took its toll on the former NBA veteran as he was limited to three points in the decisive fourth quarter. Rookie big man June Mar Fajardo had a standout performance with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Import Eric Dawson led the Bolts with 24 points and 20 rebounds. Ross sparked the furious Meralco onslaught in the final quarter, finishing with 12 points, six rebounds, six assists, and three steals. In the first game of the double-header, the Talk N Text Tropang Texters broke open a tight contest in the third quarter to wallop the GlobalPort Batang Pier, 99-79, for their second straight win after a loss in their first outing. The drama of the game centered on former TNT player Japeth Aguilar who was facing his former team for the first time after being traded to GlobalPort in exchange for Rabeh Al-Hussaini just days before the start of the Commissioner's Cup. With no love lost for his former team, Aguilar was expected to pour all his angst and showcase his athleticism to the hilt. But the Texters were ready for him, limiting the 6'9” center to just four points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field and seven rebounds in 28 minutes of action. This was way below his average of 15.7 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game in GlobalPort's first three games where they won twice. Import Keith Benson spearheaded the Texters with 20 points, 19 rebounds and five shotblocks. Jayson Castro chipped in 19 points while Jimmy Alapag came off the bench to post 15 points and seven assists. The Batang Pier fell to their second loss in four games. They were led by import Justin Williams and Gary David who scored 19 points apiece.
