Manuel pulls off buzzer-beater

Aces edge Beermen

MANILA, Philippines — Vic Manuel drove in between the defenses of Arwind Santos and Christian Standhardinger then knocked in a one-hander at the buzzer as Alaska Milk escaped past San Miguel Beer, 105-103, to gain a piece of the lead in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Lamberto Macias Sports Center in Dumaguete last night.

The Aces survived three early fouls committed by import Antonio Campbell and San Miguel’s endgame storm to force a three-way tie atop the heap with the TNT KaTropa Texters and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at 4-1.

San Miguel’s import change didn’t check its slump in this Petron Blaze Saturday Special.

Renaldo Balkman led SMB’s fourth-quarter chase but committed a critical error in the last 19.2 seconds, allowing the Aces to save the game where they led by as many as 22 despite Campbell sitting out most of the first half because of early fouls.

The Beermen thus dropped to 0-3.

Meanwhile, Rain or Shine (4-1) hopes to keep its spot on top heading to the All-Star break as it takes on GlobalPort (3-2) back at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.

Barangay Ginebra (1-2) tries to pick up from where it left off in a 105-91 mangling of Blackwater the last time out as the Kings face the Phoenix Fuel Masters (2-2) in the day’s other game.

The Aces put up a proud stand even with Campbell confined on the bench early on, taking the first quarter at 28-20 then carrying a 14-point spread, 57-43, into the final half.

A three-point play by Jvee Casio and a three-point bomb by Kevin Racal to start the second half had the Aces erecting a 20-point bulge at 63-43.

The Beermen, however, rode the exploits of Balkman and Standhardinger as they got into the game in the fourth quarter, pulling even at 100-all on a trey by Chico Lanete entering the last two minutes of the game.

At 103-all, the Beermen got a chance to pull ahead on misses by Campbell and Manuel.

Campbell, however, made up on the defensive end, forcing Balkman to commit an error that Manuel parlayed into a winning basket.

Notes: Blackwater and NLEX have agreed on a trade deal, swapping Dave Marcelo and Rabeh Al-Hussaini in a move they hope would provide them some relief in their tough luck showing in the mid-season tourney. Al-Hussaini moved over to the Elite camp, his eighth team since being drafted second overall by Air21 in 2010. He’s also played with San Miguel, Powerade, GlobalPort, TNT and Meralco. Marcelo, meanwhile, is hooking up with the Road Warriors after earlier stints with the Barako Bull Energy, the Barangay Ginebra Kings and the Blackwater Elite.