Aces beat Road Warriors, boost outright semis bid

Game Saturday (Binan, Laguna)

5 p.m. – Blackwater vs Talk n Text

Games Sunday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

3 p.m. – Ginebra vs Globalport

5:15 p.m. – Purefoods vs Rain or Shine

MANILA, Philippines – Alaska Milk, trailing most of the second half, pounced on NLEX’s endgame meltdown, carving out a 90-84 win that enhanced its bid for an outright semifinal entry in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday night.

Dondon Hontiveros came through with a crucial four-point play off Mark Borboran, touching off Alaska’s 14-2 closing flurry that carried the Aces to their eighth win against a solitary loss.

For the second straight time, NLEX blew away a seemingly won ball game and bowed out of the race for a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals with a 3-6 win-loss slate.

And worse, the Road Warriors’ quarters bid remains in the balance.

Kia bumps off NLEX for the last quarters slot if the Sorento win their last two games and the Road Warriors drop theirs. The two teams may engage in a knockout setto on Dec. 7.

Meanwhile, Talk n Text seeks solo fourth place, gunning for a sixth win against three losses as the Tropang Texters tangle with winless tail-ender the Blackwater Elite in the Petron Blaze-sponsored road game in Binan, Laguna at 5 p.m. today.

“Our scouting report showed that they’re the highest field-goal shooting team. Asi Taulava’s having double-double games, and guys like Jonas Villanueva and Macmac Cardona are playing very well. And so we had a lot of things in mind,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton.

“Coming in, we knew they’re a big defensive job for us. And we’re happy, in some ways, it’s similar to our Globalport game. The game went up and down. They (NLEX) had their chance, but in the end we won on our defense,” Compton added.

The Aces made their biggest stops at crunch time, frustrating the Road Warriors in the game where they led by 15 at one point at 56-41.

The Road Warriors looked well in control at 82-76 before ramming into a wall, going scoreless in the next two minutes of the game.

The Aces cashed in on the Road Warriors’ crucial misses and errors to zoom ahead at 88-82 before NLEX ended its dry spell on a garbage basket by Cardona with 10 ticks left.

“We held them to 39 percent shooting and we stopped them in the crunch. It made me so proud of the guys,” said Compton.

The Aces beat out the Road Warriors at endgame and negated career-best numbers produced by Borboran (22 points) and Cardona (14 rebounds).

Taulava was effectively neutralized, held down to 10 points and four rebounds.

Hontiveros top scored with 21 points, Calvin Abueva delivered double-double numbers with 16 points and 19 rebounds while Cyrus Baguio, Sonny Thoss and Jvee Casio added 11 points each for Alaska.