Air21 Express pounced on the erratic Sta. Lucia Realtors to hack out a 107-83 rout Friday night in their KFC-PBA Philippine Cup duel. Air21 improved to 2-3 after losing their first three games in the season-opening tournament. The defending champion Sta. Lucia fell to 3-2, creating a three-way tie for third to fifth place among the Realtors, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the Talk N Text Tropang Texters. With Sta. Lucia committing one turnover after another, the Express seized control after just one quarter, 22-11, and never looked back again on their way to notching a second straight win. Arwind Santos finished with 21 points and held his own against his one-on-one showdown with Kelly Williams. Gary David added 20 while JR Quinahan 14 for In the opening game of the double-header played at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, the Talk N Text Tropang Texters dealt the Alaska Aces their first loss of the season, 91-83. Ali Peek returned to active duty and scored 16 points, rookie Jared Dilinger had another big game of 18 markers while Mac Cardona topscored with 24 in a balance scoring for the Texters, who arrested a two-game losing streak. The Aces finally saw their immaculate record tainted, allowing the idle San Miguel Beermen to tie them on top with identical 4-1 cards. Alaska played catch-up for most of the game, but never got to overcome the Texters who scored heavily from just about everywhere. It was defense that spelled victory for the Texters, as they shut down the Aces' offense to just a 33-of-84 or 39.3 percent shooting from the field. On offense, Talk N Text was as usual deadly, converting 35-of-75 or 46.7 percent of its attempts from the field. Ali Peek, a 10-year veteran, played his first game after being sidelined in the first four games due to calf muscle injury. The 6-foot-4 Peek had 16 points and seven rebounds, while giving TNT that intimidating presence on the defensive end. He also held Alaska's Sonny Thoss to just four points. Holding a five-point lead, 74-69, Talk N Text scored four straight points - a split free throw by Cardona and a three-pointer by Dillinger - that gave them a 78-69 lead with 7:36 left in the game. After Dillinger's triple, Alaska head coach Tim Cone charged towards the referee at mid-court, contesting what he felt was a non-call on Texter rookie Jason Castro against the driving LA Tenorio. The referee gave Cone two technicals that led to his outright ejection at the 7:35 mark of the fourth quarter. Another trey by the 6-foot-5 Dillinger, the Tropang Texters' first round pick and No. 2 overall in the previous Rookie Draft, gave them a 14-point advantage, 85-71, with 6:16 to play. The scores: Talk N Text 91 - Cardona 24, Dillinger 18, Peek 16, Ritualo 10, Castro 8, Alapag 6, Carey 4, Aljamal 3, De Ocampo 2, Reyes 0, Allado 0. Alaska 83 - Miller 29, De Vance 16, Tenorio 10, Hugnatan 8, Cariaso 8, Ferriols 6, Thoss 4, Dela Cruz 2, Fonacier 0, Sotto 0. Quarters: 22-19; 40-36; 67-59: 91-83. __
