Jay R. Gotera
MANILA — The Alaska Aces played solid defense in the endgame to frustrate the defending champion San Miguel Beer, 83-80, in Game 2 of their best-of-7 PBA Philippine Cup Finals Tuesday.
The Aces thus erected a 2-0 lead in their series as they continued to take full advantage of the loss of SMB big man June Mar Fajardo who remained sidelined by the knee injury he got in Game 6 of their semifinals series against Rain or Shine Elasto Painters last week.
Vic Manuel provided the muscle and the spark for the Aces, finishing with a team-high 18 points. Dondon Hontiveros and Cyrus Baguio added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Calvin Abueva nearly scored a double-double by grabbing 11 rebounds but scoring only nine markers.
Alex Cabagnot paced San Miguel with 23 points while center Yancy De Ocampo finished with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds as he continued to fill in for Fajardo.
The Aces came out firing at the start of the game, scoring 12 consecutive points to erect a 21-9 lead.
The Beermen played catch-up throughout the game, managing to trim the Aces’ lead and even take the lead only to falter in the end.
Alaska erected a nine-point advantage in the third quarter sparked by some energetic plays from Manuel who continued to make mincemeat of the SMB defense in the paint.
Suddenly, Alex Cabagnot caught fire for SMB, scoring eight of his team’s next 10 points. His last basket, a midrange jumper, tied the game at 55-apiece with 3:16 left in the period.
The Beermen continued to make some heady plays, finally grabbing the lead, 73-71.
The Aces kept their poise, however, amid the scorching SMB run. They responded with a 7-0 blast as Alaska took a five-point lead, 78-73.
The Beermen launched another rally, going on a 7-2 run to knot the game at 80-all with 1:48 remaining.
After Hontiveros split his charities to give Alaska a one-point lead, 81-80, De Ocampo had a chance to grab the lead once again for SMB. However, the 6’9” back-up center missed both free throws with 17.1 seconds left.
SMB had another chance to take the lead but Ronald Tubid’s open three-point shot from the right corner missed the mark. De Ocampo got a huge offensive rebound but his putback attempt was blocked by Manuel. Abueva then grabbed the ball and called timeout.
With time fast winding down, the Beermen were forced to foul Manuel to stop the clock. Manuel converted both free throws to make it 83-80 for Alaska with 1.7 seconds left.
Cabagnot then fired a hurried three-point attempt that was way off the mark as time expired.
Game Friday: San Miguel Beer vs. Alaska Aces (Game 3 of best-of-7 Finals; Alaska leads 2-0).
