Aces edge Elite
THE Alaska Aces made it backto-back wins in the PBA Philippine Cup after defeating the struggling Blackwater Elite, 103101, on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Greatly challenged by their opponents throughout, the Aces, despite continuing to play undermanned, were steady down the stretch to book the win and improve to 2-1 in the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association tournament while sending the Elite (1-6) to their fourth straight loss.
Knowing the importance of the contest, it was cutthroat between the protagonists at the start of the contest.
The count stood at 14-all midway into the opening quarter and continued to be tight the rest of the way en route to a slim onepoint advantage, 29-28, in favor of the Aces after the first 12 minutes.
In the second quarter, Alaska tried to create some separation on the lead of guard Ping Exciminiano.
The Aces outscored the Elite, 17-8, to race to a 46-36 lead by the 4:12 mark of the period.
But Blackwater would move to stop the bleeding after, towed by forward Reymar Jose to come within one point, 49-48, by the halftime break.
Alaska started the third quarter strong with Jeron Teng and Chris Banchero further making their presence felt in the match.
It built a 13-point cushion, 6350, with just four minutes lapsing in the period.
Like in the previous quarters though, the Elite would find ways to claw their way back, narrowing their deficit to just three points, 75-72, entering the fourth.
The Elite took cue from their spirited finish in the third canto to begin the fourth quarter, momentarily seizing the lead, 75-74, in the opening minute after two free throws made by rookie Paul Desiderio.
Alaska though would make a sprint to an 86-79 advantage with 8:28 to go.
Blackwater came back again as Allein Maliksi started humming.
The score was knotted at 90-all with a little over four minutes left in the game.
The two teams went back-andforth after, fighting to a 97-96 count, with Blackwater on top, inside the last two minutes.
A triple by Carl Bryan Cruz with 1:28 remaining gave back the lead to the Aces, 99-97.
Mr. Maliksi answered back with a triple of his own 10 seconds later only to be answered by Mr. Banchero with a deuce to keep Alaska ahead, 101-100.
Blackwater tried to go ahead anew after but Mr. Maliksi’s jumper failed to connect.
Veteran Sonny Thoss made it a three-point lead, 103-100, with a jumper with 36 ticks left.
A split from the charity line by guard Roi Sumang pushed the Elite to within two points, 103-10, with 30 seconds to go.
They would not go beyond that though as the Aces held on for the win.
Messrs. Cruz and Teng led Alaska with 18 points apiece with Mr. Thoss adding 16.
Mr. Exciminiano finished with 14 points while Mr. Banchero had 11 points and 16 assists.
For Blackwater it was Mr. Maliksi who showed the way with 25 points with Mr. Sumang winding up with 18.
“We are still missing a lot of our key players but a lot of the guys stepped up. I’m proud of my teammates. It was a total team effort for us,” said Mr. Thoss, named player of the game, of his team which was still sans Vic Manuel, JVee Casio, Simon Enciso and Kevin Racal because of injuries.
After yesterday’s twin bill, the PBA takes a two-week break to give way to the campaign of PBA-backed Gilas Pilipinas in the sixth and final window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers.