Marquin Chandler and Marc Pingris had a basket each in a defense-oriented extension play as the Giants outscored the Aces 42.

Chandler’s basket gave the Giants their first taste of the lead while Pingris’ handed them their biggest lead.

Jeffrey Cariaso tried to rescue the Aces with a lay up, but they failed to add on to it until the end.

Noy Castillo, cold all night, made the inbound, streaked to the basket, received a sweet handoff from import Chandler and hit the game-tying basket as time expired in regulation.

Regulation play ended in an 82-82 deadlock.

Castillo was scoreless on 0-for-4 clip from the field before forcing the extension.

"I told the boys na they just have to keep on fighting, keep on competing. Hard work will eventually pay off," said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio, whose team improved to 21.

It did.

The Giants were relentless on their pressure defense especially in the fourth period, forcing the Aces to turn the ball over seven times.

They held the Aces without a basket in a five-minute stretch to close the gap and draw level for the first time at 80-all on a three-pointer by James Yap, 17 seconds to go.

Brandon Cablay, Yap’s defender when he buried the crucial trey, smoked his defenders to give back the lead to the Aces, 82-80, 2.7 seconds left.

The Giants forced the Aces to commit seven turnovers in the fourth while giving up only one possession to take 12 more shots in the period.

The absence of Tee McClary down the stretch was obviously felt by the Aces.

McClary sprained an ankle in the third period where the Giants started to rise. He had 21 points in the first half as the Aces posted a 51-25 lead.

His first two baskets in the third period gave the Aces their biggest lead of 29 at 54-25 and 56-27. The Aces fell to 1-2.

Meanwhile, the league goes out of town for the first time in this conference when Sta. Lucia Realty and Coca-Cola clash at the Mindanao Civic Center in Tubod, Lanao del Norte at 4:30 p.m.

Lanao de Norte Gov. Imelda "Angging" Dimaporo, who will lead the city government in welcoming the PBA teams and officials assured safety of both teams, saying that the constituents of Lanao del Norte, composed of Muslims and Christians, would be glad to welcome them.

The province had already hosted several major sporting events, among them, the First Mindanao Friendship Games, Top Start Training Program, Football and the 2003 Palarong Pambansa.