Willie Miller exploded for 26 points, 12 of them in the pivotal fourth quarter, to lead the Barangay Ginebra Kings to a pulsating 104-90 win against the defending champions and current frontrunner San Miguel Beermen Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum in the PBA Fiesta Conference. Miller also dished out eight assists as he finally made his presence felt in his new team after being traded by the Alaska Aces last month for Cyrus Baguio. The morale-boosting win showed a Ginebra resurgence as it came following a rousing come-from-behind 105-93 victory against the tough Alaska Aces last Saturday in a PBA road game. The Kings thus seized solo third in the standings with their 8-4 win-loss record. San Miguel suffered only its second loss in 12 games and still remained on top of the standings. Action was also intense in the first game of the double-header as the Air21 Express finally ended their franchise-worst nine-game losing streak, edging the Barako Energy Coffee Masters, 99-98, to score only just their second win in 12 games. The Express thus tied the Coffee Masters at the bottom of the standings, both with 2-10 slate, intensifying the battle for the last wildcard berth between the two lowly teams. Despite erecting a 31-point lead, 54-23, the Express nearly blew the game away as the Coffee Masters launched a furious rally down the stretch to trim Air21's lead to just a basket, 81-80 with 8:11 left. The Coffee Masters could have stolen the game, but Aries Dimaunahan missed a game-winning shot in their last possession. Air21 also defeated Barako Coffee in their first meeting in the conference. Air21 head coach Yeng Guiao was sarcastic rather than ecstatic after the win. “I guess it's a nice championship match,” he said. “It's not a pretty game for us. There were no positives. We really cannot celebrate this win. We've dug ourselves a psychological hole. Just winning is an achievement for us. We haven't won for a long time and I guess the guys have forgotten how to win,” he added. “We needed a 30-point lead and their import to foul out for us to win by one point,” Guiao noted.
