Alaska wins Fiesta Conference 99-96

Talk n Text's Macmac Cardona was fired up all night and for a while looked quite capable of taking his team all the way. He was everywhere with his signature hook and nobody could stop him, not even his former teammate and mentor Willie Miller. And he knew it too, at one point cocky enough to trash-talk the import Ellis in whose face he sank another hook just seconds before. Ellis took the bait and got slapped with a technical.

But Fate (or Justice the Poetess?) had other plans: down the last minute and a half with the score inextricably tied for the longest time, Miller would convert from a steal off Cardona, and a few seconds later, it would be Ellis' turn to score -- with a hook no less.

Alaska never looked back from that 4 point lead, surviving seven missed free throws of their own and Talk n Texts' near-perfect execution its last 2 plays including (Best Import) Sullinger's final-second 3point shot that had a heck of a good line to the basket but bounced out at the buzzer.

This one played out good, like a Game 7 should. (Made me want to reach out for my Winstons. Too bad I quit six years ago.)