El Nino rains triples on Petron as Air21 seals q'finals berth

MANILA, Philippines -- Nino Canaleta waxed hot with a season-high and franchise record-tying nine triples as Air21 booked the eighth and last quarterfinals berth with a 95-91 overtime upset of Petron Blaze Saturday night in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Canaleta carried the cudgels with 37 points for the Express, who missed the services of their top playmaker Mike Cortez with a calf injury. 

It was the most triples made by any player this season and Canaleta's feat tied the Air21 franchise mark recorded thrice by Renren Ritualo, the most recent on Jan. 27, 2006 in the 2005-06 Fiesta Conference semifinals against Purefoods.

Canaleta keyed Air21's comeback from as many as 17 points down with a three-point play in the final 1:40 of the overtime to break the game's final deadlock at 89-all.

The Express made it to the quarterfinals with their sixth win against eight losses, shutting the door down on Barako Bull's bid to force a playoff for the last ticket. Barako Bull will end one win short even if it hurdles GlobalPort in its last game. 

Petron Blaze, which drew 30 points from Henry Sims and 23 points on 6-of-8 three-point shooting from Marcio Lassiter, also lost its bid to forge a playoff for the second twice-to-beat advantage giving that bonus to Rain or Shine on a silver platter. 

In the nightcap, San Mig Coffee assured itself of a spot in the best-of-three quarterfinals with a 97-90 win over Meralco as it finished the eliminations with an 8-6 win-loss card. 

Denzel Bowles paced the Mixers with 27 points but it was Mark Barroca who did most of the damage finishing with a double-double of 17 markers and 10 assists aside from tallying five rebounds and three steals. 

The loss pushed the Bolts down the standings at 6-7 and are in danger of ending up at seventh place which has the daunting task to beat Rain or Shine twice in the quarters.