ANTIPOLO CITY – An eye laceration Gary David suffered early on didn’t stop last season's Most Improved Player from piling up a personal conference high 24-point output.

A slow start neither deterred Arwind Santos from coming through with 13 points at the finish.

David and Santos both made a big impact as Air21 ended Magnolia’s domination of their personal duels this season, pulling off a 96-90 victory in the 2008 Smart Fiesta Conference at the Ynares Center here Wednesday night.

Steve Thomas held his own against Jameel Watkins, producing 23 points and 13 rebounds to help the Express roll to a second straight win and their fifth in their last six outings.

Air21 caught up with Coca-Cola at 6-4 while Magnolia slid to 5-5.

"Defense, especially our defensive efforts on their (Magnolia’s) wingmen, spelled the big difference in this contest," said Air21 coach Bo Perasol, whose team improved to 6-0 this conference when holding opponents to less than 100 points in a game.

Air21’s efficient defense forced Magnolia to 28 turnovers, and the Express scored 33 points off those errors.

Incidentally, Air21 has won all of its last 10 games where it held its opponent below 100 points dating back to the previous conference.

David and Santos had their contribution on both ends of the court.

Santos had made only two points before getting away with nine straight markers to highlight Air21’s breakaway from a 78-all deadlock.

With Air21 protecting a shaky 91-87 lead with 1:22 left to play, Santos himself knocked down four straight charities to all but wrap up the win for the Express.

The Express got off to a slow start and struggled even more early on with David resting for a few minutes after his left eye was accidentally poked by Dondon Hontiveros.

Air21, which lost to the Beverage Masters in their two meetings in the Philippine Cup by an average margin of 11.0 points, fell behind by 12 at 30-42 but kept Magnolia from further pulling away as David, Nino Canaleta and Wynne Arboleda fired three straight triples.

Marc Pingris made up for back-to-back errors as he muscled his way to a basket versus Thomas closing the half at 44-39 in favor of the Beverage Masters.

Magnolia took control in the first half on a 49-percent field-goal shooting as against Air21’s 36-percent marksmanship.*www.pba.com

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