Game today
Araneta Coliseum
7 p.m.- San Miguel Beer vs. Rain or Shine
For the third time in the last four conferences, the Alaska Aces will contend for the championship.
The Aces secured another trip to the Finals after they disposed of the GlobalPort Batang Pier, 118-89, last night in Game 5 of their 41st PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series at the Araneta Coliseum.
Wrapping up the series, 4-1, the Aces are in the Philippine Cup Finals for the second straight time.
Alaska will await the winner in the semifinal series between the San Miguel Beermen and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
That series is tied at two games apiece with Game 5 set to be played tonight.
Overall, Alaska is in its 29th finals appearance and 10th in an All-Filipino Conference.
It was another dominating performance by the Aces, pulling off another double-digit victory after surprisingly getting routed in Game 1, 93-107.
Alaska won Game 2 by 24 points, Game 3 by 13 and Game 4 by 25.
Ping Exiciminiano was the surprise package for the Aces in the 29-point blowout as the pesky guard fired a career-high 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field.
Exciminiano, whose main assignment was to control GlobalPort’s top gun Terrence Romeo, also had five rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Chris Banchero also scored 18 points for Alaska, who had four other players scoring in the twin digits.
Jay Washington was the lone bright spot for the Batang Pier with the Fil-Am forward tallying a game-high 26 markers.
Romeo still finished with 20 points but didn’t deliver when Alaska broke the game wide open.
From a 15-all tie, Alaska went on a scorching run to end the first period with a 27-17 lead.
GlobalPort again made the game close in the second period when it pulled within 36-38 but Alaska ended the first half strong to take a 60-51 edge into the final two quarters.
THE SCORES
ALASKA (118) – Exciminiano 18, Banchero 18, Abueva 14, Thoss 14, Baguio 10, Manuel 10, Jazul 9, Menk 9, Hontiveros 6, Casio 5, Dela Cruz 2, Eman 2, Baclao 0, Dela Rosa 0.
GLOBALPORT (89) – Washington 26, Romeo 20, Pringle 15, Sumang 9, Isip 6, Yeo 6, Jensen 3, Kramer 2, Maierhofer 2, Pena 0, Semerad 0.QUARTERSCORES: 27-17, 60-51, 87-73, 118-89.
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