Games today
Araneta Coliseum
3:00 p.m.- Kia vs. GlobalPort
5:15 p.m.- Barangay Ginebra vs. Meralco
The Alaska Aces once again did what they do best.
Known for their never-say-die attitude, the Aces clawed back from a 22-point halftime deficit to flatten the Barako Bull Energy, 101-95, yesterday in the 40th PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
By completing the conference’s biggest comeback win, the Aces tied the San Miguel Beermen at the number one spot of the team standings with identical 7-2 (win-loss) cards.
With their third straight victory, the Aces sealed their ninth straight conference playoffs appearance and moved just a win away from clinching a crucial twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinal round.
“I feel like this game is like a tale of two cities,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton. “It was really ugly in the first half. But I told the guys we’re not giving up. I don’t care about the result anymore, but our team must be the team to show out there. The guys all did it.”
Down by big at the halfm 40-62, Alaska staged a torrid run in the third and at one point moved within 71-72. Barako Bull appeared ready to thwart the rampaging Alaska run when it took a 78-72 lead into the fourth.
In that searing third quarter rally, Alaska outscored Barako Bull, 32-16.
The Alaska rally didn’t stop in the third as Chris Banchero completed a break-away layup as the Aces led for the first time, 82-81, since taking a 2-0 lead early in the game.
Alaska erected a 95-86 edge on a three-pointer by Jvee Casio in the final 2:57.
The Energy staged their own run with Joseph Yeo scoring five straight points and RR Garcia sinking a triple that made it 94-95 with 1:33 left.
Casio, however, nailed another triple and Calvin Abueva converted a split free throw as the Aces sailed to a comfortable 99-94 edge with just 25.5 seconds left.
Romeo Travis paced Alaska with 23 points, 12 coming in the third, and added 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and one block.
Banchero added career-high 20 points, while Abueva tallied 16, 10 of them he made in the second half.
Liam McMorrow posted 26 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Energy, who dropped back-to-back games for the first time in the conference and fell to 6-3.
In the main game, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters padded their winning streak to four with a 103-88 spanking of the defending champions Star Hotshots.
Rain or Shine improved to 5-4, while Star dropped to 3-5.
THE SCORES
ALASKA (101)– Travis 23, Banchero 20, Abueva 16, Jazul 11, Dela Rosa 9, Casio 8, Manuel 6, Baguio 4, Exciminiano 4, Thoss 0, Hontiveros 0, Eman 0, Menk 0, Dela Cruz 0.
BARAKO BULL (95)– McMorrow 26, Garcia 19, Yeo 18, Lanete 18, Intal 10, Wilson 2, Ababou 2, Hubalde 0, Pascual 0, Chua 0, Maierhofer 0.QUARTERSCORES: 17-32, 40-62, 72-78, 101-95.
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