Recovered Aces face shorthanded Beermen
THE Alaska Aces are on a hunt for their fourth straight win when they clash against the five-time defending champions San Miguel Beermen in the 6:45 p.m. main game of the PBA Season 45 Philippine Cup at the Angeles University Foundation (AUF) Sports Arena and Cultural Center today, October 24.
After losing their first two games to the Meralco Bolts and the TNT Tropang Giga, the Aces bounced back by posting three consecutive wins over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, the Blackwater Elite and the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok.
Alaska’s last game was a thriller, as it escaped the erstwhile unbeaten Rain or Shine, 89-88, thanks to the heroics of Vic Manuel who scored six of his 18 points in the final two minutes of play.
Their defense proved useful to the Aces, now carrying a 3- 2 ( winloss) card halfway into the 11- game elimination round inside the PBA bubble in Pampanga.
“Honestly, when we lost to Meralco we went back to the basics, so we talked about our defense, we talked about how we can improve, we watched films, and we worked it out on practice,” said Alaska coach Jeffrey Cariaso after their win on Thursday.
Besides Manuel, the Aces will count on Jeron Teng, Abu Tratter, Mike DiGregorio and Jayvee Casio against the Beermen’s Alex Cabagnot, Chris Ross, Arwind Santos, Marcio Lassiter, Mo Tautuaa and Von Pessumal.
San Miguel Beer notched a 105-98 victory over the winless Terrafirma Dyip last Monday to end its two- game losing skid. Tautuaa led the Beermen with 25 points on an efficient 8-for-11 shooting from the field.
The Beermen are pressing on without six-time June Mar Fajardo who is recuperating from an injured right shin. And recently, flamboyant guard Terrence
Romeo has been incapacitated for the rest of the season with an injured shoulder after a game with TNT last week.
Alaska and San Miguel had some rivalry going into the Philippine Cup as the two teams met twice in the last five All-Filipino Finals — in seasons 201415 and 2015-16 — which both went into a decisive Game 7. The Beermen won both best- of-seven series.
Winless teams Terrafirma Dyip and Northport Batang Pier will meet in the 4 p.m. opening game. The Dyip hold a 0-3 card while the Batang Pier are at the bottom of the standings with 0-4.