Sunday Shocker: Express stun Kings to stay alive for wildcard

Leroy Hickerson went on a big offensive rampage in the final four minutes and powered Air21 to a nail-biting 98-97 upset of Barangay Ginebra Sunday night in the main game of the PBA Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. The explosive import accounted for all of the Express' final 12 points, including the game-winning free throws in the final 11.7 seconds of the thrilling ballgame.

The two-time slamdunk champion in the Mexican league finished with a game-high 33 points, 10 rebounds and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line. The all-important win couldn’t have come at a better time for the Express, who momentarily broke away from a tie with the Barako Coffee Makers for the last berth in the wild card phase. The Express tote a 4-13 card, just a notch ahead of the Coffee Makers (3-13) down the cellar of the season-ending meet. “We needed this win because all we want is to give us some distance against Barako Bull," said coach Yeng Guiao of his team’s heated race with Barako Coffee for survival at the end of the eliminations. “We’re keeping our hopes alive and our attitude remains positive." Hickerson is obviously in the same page with his brilliant but outspoken mentor. “We just wanted to stay alive and keep on fighting," he said. Fight, the Express did. They battled back from a 58-69 deficit in the third quarter and tied the game at 80 on a basket by Doug Kramer, who was a monster on both ends of the floor with 16 points and 16 rebounds. And just when the Kings tried to pull away by scoring six unanswered points to go up, 82-88, entering the homestretch, Hickerson took over. The Air21 import went berserk on the offensive end and twice scored on completed three-point plays, the last of which netted Rudy Hatfield his sixth personal foul as the Express finally took the lead, 96-95, with 2:15 remaining. Denham Brown gave the Kings the upperhand for the last time, 97-96, on a running one-hander before Ginebra crumbled down for good following one botched plays after another. Two foul shots by Hickerson put the Express on top for good, 98-97. After Rico Villanueva missed on point-blank range, the Express had the chance to finally seal the outcome of the game, only for Billy Mamaril – playing only in his second game with Air21 after being traded by the Kings for Mike Cortez – to bungle two of his free throws with 5.5 seconds to go. However, the Kings failed to put up a decent shot in the end, with Brown’s fadeaway jumper falling short off the mark as the buzzer sounded. Mark Caguioa had 21 points to show the way for the Kings, who fell to 9-8 and still a win short of clinching a berth in the quarterfinals. Hatfield added 17 and 12 rebounds for Ginebra, which shot 19-of-33 from the foul line. - RCJ, GMANews.TV