Aces diffuse Bolts anew, enter semis

MANILA, Philippines -- Alaska Milk dealt Meralco another severe beating as the Aces pounded and pummeled the Bolts right in the first half en route to an 87-69 win that sent them to the PBA Philippine Cup Final Four at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.

Doing what they do best – play tough defense, the Aces pulled away early, building a 22-point cushion at the half and simply holding on to set up a second straight semifinal encounter with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

For Meralco, the Final Four remained a top mountain to climb.

The Bolts failed to avenge a 64-105 blowout by the Aces in the elims and fell by the wayside, joining early casualties Blackwater, Kia Motors, NLEX, Barako Bull, Purefoods Star and Globalport.

Talk n Text and Barangay Ginebra dispute the last berth in the semis in their own do-or-die game at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Big Dome.

“The start of the match was the story of the game,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton.

“We limited them to 25 points in the first half and that’s a huge effort. You do that and you have a big chance of winning the game. Our guys defended so hard in the first 24 minutes of the game,” Compton pointed out.

“Meralco did a good job in the second half as they adjusted very well. But we really started so well and we won the game right there,” Compton added.

Rolling past NLEX and Meralco in the quarters, the Aces set up a rematch of their Governors Cup semis showdown with the Elasto Painters that boiled down to endgame of the deciding Game Five.

“We gave our best right here in the quarters, what’s more in the semis series?” said Calvin Abueva, expressing a great excitement on their rematch with the E-Painters.

Cyrus Baguio scored on drive then grabbed an errant Meralco inbound and nailed an off-balanced, one-handed looper from beyond the arc at the buzzer as the Aces took the half at 47-25.

Dondon Hontiveros and Vic Manuel also had a hand in Alaska’s swashbuckling start, with the former going 4-of-5 from the three-point area and the latter delivering eight markers and six boards in the first two quarters of play.

The Aces pulled a great job on the defensive end together, spelling the big difference in netting the biggest halftime lead by any team in the conference since San Miguel Beer’s 56-29 margin over Globalport in their game last Nov. 25.

Alaska broke away early while holding Meralco down to 12 points in the first quarter and to 13 in the second period. Not a single Meralco player scored more than five in the first 24 minutes of play.

From a six-all count, Hontiveros and Manuel ignited an explosive 18-2 bomb as the Aces seized control right in the opening quarter.

The Aces thoroughly dominated the Bolts all the way to the finish.

Manuel topscored with 17 points that went with nine rebounds while Baguio, Hontiveros and Jvee Casio added 15, 13 and 11 points, respectively.

John Wilson paced the losing team with 16 points, with 11 coming in the second half.