Aces overcome Beermen in OT, take Phl Cup Title series opener

MANILA, Philippines - Alaska Milk survived a horrendous five-point output and a 22-point deficit in the opening quarter, charging back into the game in the third period before going full throttle in the crunch as the Aces carved out an amazing 88-82 overtime victory over the stunned San Miguel Beermen in the opener of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Aces faced a tough, uphill battle but flashed a big fighting heart and indomitable spirit, and never ran out of heroes, thus, coming through with the biggest comeback win in PBA Finals in eight years.

The underdogs against the playoffs top seeds, coach Alex Compton and his troops go for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven championship series in Game Two at 7 p.m. tomorrow also at the Big Dome.

“We had a bad start and credit goes to San Miguel’s defense. We’re like (a computer with a) Pentium One (operating system) early on. But in the second half, the guys showed why I love them so much. They never gave up, chipping away, chipping away and chipping away,” said Compton.

“After the first quarter, we committed to play defense and we had contributions all around. Calvin (Abueva) was special, (Chris) Banchero was great, Jvee (Casio) made big shots and Sonny Thoss was there,” Compton also said.

After surging ahead for the first time at 65-62 in the fourth, the Aces played tough to the finish, outhustling, outsmarting and outgunning the Beermen with the game on the line.

Abueva outworked everyone in a 29-minute stint, coming through with 22 points and 10 rebounds while Banchero, Dondon Hontiveros and Casio added at least 13 points each as Alaska scored another come-from-behind victory, similar to their wins in Game One and Game Five of their semis showdown with Rain or Shine.

It was the biggest comeback win in a title playoff since Talk n Text battled back from 23 points down in a 95-87 victory over Alaska in Game Three of the 2007 Fiesta Cup Finals.

“We led by 22 early in the game and I don’t know what happened,” rued San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

“A major factor was the Alaska bench outscoring ours, 61-20. There’s also their tough, tough defense and they’re not drawing fouls. Si Junemar (Fajardo), mukhang napagod,” Austria also said.

Fajardo grabbed 17 rebounds but was held to 14 points.

Both teams had their chances to win in regulation play but Casio and Hontiveros missed an attempt each for Alaska while Chris Lutz had a dubious mental lapse, throwing a desperation shot from way beyond midcourt when he could’ve called a timeout with three seconds left to play.

In extension, Banchero scored on a layup then Casio and Hontiveros drained a triple each as Alaska immediately seized control at 82-76.

A split from the line by Thoss made it 83-76, and the Aces never let the Beermen come close to the very end.

Well prepared against Alaska’s press, the Beermen took a huge 27-5 lead in the opening quarter on a 52-percent field shooting.

They applied their own pressure defense, forcing the Aces to couples of errors in a key 16-to-nothing run from an 11-5 count.

But Abueva came through with big plays in his return from a three-minute freezer due to a flagrant foul in the second quarter, and the Aces made their own run to draw to within nine at 20-29.

The Alaska starters came back strong in the third period and the Aces came closer at 46-50.

The Aces trailed by only five, 49-54, going into the final canto as they outscored the Beermen, 44-27, in the middle quarters.

NOTES: For steering their respective teams to the Philippine Cup Finals, Leo Austria and Alex Compton also clinched the coaching posts in the 2015 PBA All-Star Game, highlighting the annual all-star festivities set in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan on March 5-8. The mid-season spectacle is reverting back to the North-versus-South format with boxing icon and KIA playing coach Manny Pacquiao a top prospect for the South team along with James Yap, Junemar Fajardo and Greg Slaughter……Balloting for the BPC award has begun. Through the semis, Fajardo remained the strongest contender with 41.6 statistical points a game, followed by Calvin Abueva (34.5), Arwind Santos (33.1), Greg Slaughter (32.8) and Alex Cabagnot (31.4).

The scores:

ALASKA 88 – Abueva 22, Banchero 16, Hontiveros 15, Casio 13, Manuel 7, Baguio 4, Exciminiano 4, Jazul 4, Dela Cruz 2, Thoss 1, Eman 0, Dela Rosa 0, Espinas 0, Menk 0.

SAN MIGUEL 82 – Lutz 24, Fajardo 14, Santos 12, Pascual 10, Cabagnot 6, Omolon 4, Semerad 4, Lassiter 3, Ross 2, Kramer 2, Tubid 1, Maierhofer 0, Fortuna 0, Chua 0.

Quarterscores: 5-27, 31-45, 49-54, 74-74, 88-82