ANTIPOLO — Air21 import Keena Young may not be as prolific as Barako Cofee counterpart Sammy Monroe, but the former sure can do his own thing–be more efficient.

With the likes of Ronnie Matias and Mike Cortez leading the locals chipping in their ample share the Express had little trouble prevailing 113-108 Sunday to barge into the win-column of the PBA Fiesta Conference at the Ynares Center.

Young got outscored by Monroe 25-36, but shot 9-of-14 from the field and snared most of his 16 rebounds in the final four minutes when Air21 steadily pulled away from the a tight 99-98 game and into its rebound from an 87-92 loss to San Miguel Beer in their conference debut last Wednesday.

In contrast, Monroe took 26 shots and went blank from beyond the arc despite five tries.

"I think our import is somebody you can underestimate because he doesn’t score a lot," noted Express coach Yeng Guiao. "But we don’t need a good scoring import because we have a lot of scoring options."

Matias personified that with 18 points, including 13 in the final quarter, while Cortez added 15 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals.

The two also joined hands with their reinforcement in keying the Express surge to a safe 112-103 lead, only 30 ticks left.

Ren-Ren Ritualo and Ronjay Buenafe also contributed 13 points each in a more balanced scoring output for Air21 that enabled it to get past an opponent that refused to simply wilt despite being down by as much as 11 points twice early in the match.

Barako became the first team to lose back-to-back games in the tournament after its failure to bounce back from a 74-97 rout at the hands of Coca-Cola also last Wednesday.

Rob Wainwright, Aries Dimaunahan, Yousif Aljamal and Jojo Duncil each had at least 10 points, but the Coffee Masters made only three of 14 three-point attempts in the second half, unlike in the first when they converted four of 16.

Air21 made 10 of 21 triples tries, led by Ritualo’s three.

The Express missed 17 charities against the Beermen but muffed only 10 of 43 tries, compared to the Masters’ 19-of-32 shooting from the stripe.

That icy touch from beyond the arc prevented undersized Barako from fully breaking down Air21’s zone defense employed primarily to stifle Monroe.

"I think the key was being able to manage their import," said Guiao. "You can’t leave him alone because he keeps scoring. The zone defense worked and it’s good because I have to play zone with a good import like Monroe."

Monroe actually flirted with a triple double with 10 rebounds and eight assists and still nine minutes left. But he often refused to give up the ball and put up some hurried shots that went awry.

Two of Monroe’s four turnovers came in that decisive four-minute stretch when Air21 broke away for good.

Buenafe actually started the game’s most crucial spree with a rainbow shot, with Matias and Young asserting themselves off the boards while scoring as well.