MANILA — The Alaska Aces finally found a way to win, stunning the grand slam-seeking but slumping San Miguel Beermen, 90-79, in a PBA Governor's Cup road game in Angeles, Pampanga, Saturday night.
The victory snapped Alaska’s six-game losing streak this conference, and 14 overall extending back to the last Commissioner’s Cup. Prior to Saturday’s game, the Aces last tasted victory five months ago—on April 2 when they defeated Rain or Shine.
Alaska gutted the win by clamping down hard on defense, limiting SMB to just nine points in the first quarter, which the Aces took, 19-9.
LaDontae Henton exploded for 36 points and 15 boards against SMB, atoning for his miserable showing in Alaska’s game against Ginebra last Saturday, where he scored only 10 points.
Calvin Abueva, Sonny Thoss and JV Casio also played like there’s no tomorrow to send the Beermen reeling to their second straight loss and third overall in six games. Abueva finished with a near double-double of 13 points and 9 rebounds. Thoss added 12 markers while Casio added 9 points.
Playing before his province mates, Arwind Santos played like an import, churning out 29 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Alex Cabagnot added 14 markers while June Mar Fajardo chipped in 12 and 14 rebounds.
New SMB import Terik Bridgeman, who replaced Wendell McKines, turned out to be a huge disappointment, scoring only a measly 2 points, grabbing 6 rebounds and committing 6 turnovers in 21 minutes in his first game in the Philippines.
The Aces pounced on SMB’s lackluster import to pull away early, taking a 44-31 halftime lead. The Beermen mounted a huge rally in the third quarter, cutting Alaska’s lead to just 3 points, 56-53. But the Aces refused to wilt under pressure as they went on another tear to regain a double-digit lead.
Alaska went on to lead by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter en route to victory.
The Aces played with a remarkably high level intensity resulting in Chris Banchero getting ejected after incurring two technicals after nearly coming to blows against SMB’s Chris Ross. Abueva was also assessed with a technical after showing disrespect to officials.
Games Sunday: GlobalPort Batang Pier (3-3) vs. NLEX Road Warriors (6-2) and Barangay Ginebra Kings (5-1) vs. Star Hotshots (4-1).
