Game today:
Mall of Asia Arena
7 p.m. – San Miguel vs Talk N Text
The Alaska Aces shut down the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 94-78, in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in their heated semifinal match-up in the PBA Philippine Cup last night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasig City.
After getting off to slow starts in the first two games of the series, the Aces changed their stripes and relentlessly attacked on both ends of the floor to establish a hefty halftime lead, one that held until the final buzzer in spite of Rain or Shine’s best efforts to come back.
Calvin “The Beast” Abueva bounced back from a muted Game 2 performance and registered a career-high 28 points on top of 14 rebounds, three steals and a block. Eric Menk also continued to defy time as he churned out a throwback double-double of 13 points and 11 boards, all while battling the physical Rain or Shine frontcourt of JR Quinahan, Jervy Cruz, Raymund Almazan and Beau Belga, who was ejected along with head coach Yeng Guiao for incurring their second technical fouls in the game due to excessive complaining.
Cyrus Baguio and Jayvee Casio also joined in on the scoring parade with 11 markers each.
The Elasto Painters were actually in front early on, 10-7, when the Aces dropped a 17-2 run led by the frenetic play of Abueva and Menk to end the period on top, 24-12.
Alaska eventually hiked its lead up to a high of 15 but the Painters kept on fighting and crawled to within eight, 57-65, at the end of the third.
Alaska kept the Painters at bay, thanks to timely makes by RJ Jazul, Casio and Abueva, who punctuated the crucial victory with a breakaway slam with two minutes to go.
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