Express keep Philippine Cup champs Llamados winless

Air21 subdued defending champion B-Meg Derby Ace, 77-69, to nail its first win in the PBA Philippine Cup in Saturday's road game at the Naga City Sports Coliseum. Nonoy Baclao, playing his second game in the league after missing the team's opener owing to a hyper-extended knee, finished with eight points and starred in the crucial third-quarter run that allowed the Express to finally take control of the match. Air21 broke into the win column with a 1-2 card while keeping Derby Ace as the only winless team in the All-Filipino meet at 0-3. The 6-foot-4 Baclao, Ronnie Matias and Ronjay Buenafe executed an 8-0 Express run to erase a seven-point deficit and take a 47-46 lead with three minutes and 21 seconds to go in the third period. Air21 extended that lead to as many as eight, before the Llamados threatened at 65-61 in the final 4:51 of the contest. But Wesley Gonzales and Wynne Arboleda fired a three-pointer each to put the Express out of harm's way, 71-65, heading into the homestretch. Peter June Simon led Derby Ace's losing cause with 11 points, while Rommel Adducul, playing extended minutes owing to the spate of injuries that sidelined the teams' big men, added 10, eight of which he scored in the first quarter. B-Meg main gunner James Yap was held to just eight points. - JVP/KY, GMANews.TV