Aces rip F Masters, enhance bid for No. 2

MANILA, Philippines - Alaska Milk dominated Phoenix Petroleum from the second quarter onwards on a relentless pressing and attacking game and pulled off a decisive 106-85 win that guaranteed the Aces of a quarterfinals entry in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome last night.

Vic Manuel, coming off an ankle injury, stood out as the Aces fashioned out the key win that sealed their quarters passage and put them in a good position to grab second spot at the end of the single-round-robin elims on Wednesday.

The Aces caught up with the TNT KaTropa Texters at second place at 6-4 while relegating the Fuel Masters down to fourth place.

“I can’t ask for more. I thought we defended a lot better. Our energy was there. We really had a good energy and I felt like everybody was involved,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton.

Manuel, Jake Pascual and RJ Jazul led the Alaska second group that put up a tremendous effort in the second quarter, enabling the Aces to take a 60-42 cushion at halftime.

Kevin Racal, Dondon Hontiveros, Calvin Abueva, Jvee Casio and Sonny Thoss then took over as the Aces held sway to the finish, foiling Phoenix’s own shot at No. 2 spot and its twice-to-beat reward in the quarters.

Behind Mat Wright, Willy Wilson, Cyrus Baguio and Simon Enciso, the Fuel Masters waged a fightback and managed to narrow the gap to nine in the third.

Alaska, however, regrouped and posted another huge lead, 79-59, before the quarter ended.

The Aces go for a 7-4 closing card in the last day of the elims Wednesday at the same venue.

Meanwhile, Alex Mallari produced a near triple-double job, including a career-high 30 points, while Reden Celda also churned out a career-best 18 markers as Mahindra toppled NLEX, 106-96, in a duel of ousted teams in the first game.

Mallari narrowly missed a triple-double with 30 points and nine assists in a superb performance that fired up the Floodbuster versus the Road Warriors.

Celda, averaging only 5.7 points, outdid himself like Mallari, going 5-of-12 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line to help the Floodbuster pick up a win before closing out its elims stint against the Star Hotshots Wednesday at the same venue.

Mahindra caught up with Meralco at 10th place at 3-7 and left NLEX alone in the cellar at 2-8.

A dampener in Mahindra’s win was a knee injury suffered by Gilas Pilipinas candidate Russel Escoto in the second period.

He was carried to their dugout on a stretcher and left the venue on crutches after his left knee gave in after a rebound play. The former FEU hotshot had gone 5-of-5 when he suffered the injury.

Mallari and Celda, however, stepped up following Escoto’s exit, and the Floodbuster went on to gift coach Chris Gavina a win on his 38th birthday.

“I told them to dedicate the game to Russel even as we hope that his injury is not severe,” said Gavina.

“He showed why he’s a national player. He really has a national level elite skills,” said Gavina of Escoto.

Eric Camson, Bryan Guinto and Mac Baracael delivered double-digit outputs for the Road Warriors who played minus Sean Anthony who’s out for the tourney due to an ankle sprain suffered in practice.

Win or lose in their last game against Barangay Ginebra tomorrow, NLEX will still finish dead last in the tourney – a first for the franchise.

Meanwhile, TNT KaTropa and Star press their Top Two drive as they go up against San Miguel Beer and Meralco, respectively, in a rare Petron Blaze Saturday twinbill over at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.

The Hotshots and the Bolts square off at 3 p.m. then the Texters and the Beermen face off at 5:15 p.m. in the third to the last play date of the single-round-robin elims.

TNT guns for a third straight win and a 7-4 closing mark in taking on the SMB team – the breakaway elims top-notcher now warming up for the quarters where they will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage versus the No. 8 team.

The Texters have also clinched a berth in the quarterfinals but are in a must-win situation in chase of the “win-once” privilege in the Final Eight.

In case of a tie with Rain or Shine and Star, TNT will settle for a lower seeding because of an inferior quotient since the Texters dropped their games to both the E-Painters and the Hotshots.

The scores:

First Game

MAHINDRA 106 – Mallari 30, Celda 18, Escoto 12, Galanza 11, Apinan 10, Revilla 9, Deutchman 6, Ballesteros 5, Paniamogan 3, Eriobu 2, Yee 0, Elorde 0, Teng 0, Salva 0.

NLEX 96 – Camson 17, Guinto 13, Baracael 10, Khobuntin 9, Lastimosa 9, Alas 8, Rios 6, J. Villanueva 6, Monfort 5, Lanete 4, Taulava 4, Soyud 2, Gotladera 2, E. Villanueva 1.

Quarterscores:  22-27, 57-49, 77-77, 106-96

Second Game

ALASKA 106 – Manuel 21, Racal 20, Jazul 14, Racal 10, Hontiveros 9, Abueva 7, Casio 7, Thoss 6, Magat 4, Exciminiano 4, Cruz 2, Mendoza 2, Galliguez 0, Dela Cruz 0.

PHOENIX 85 – Wright 18, W. Wilson 14, Baguio 13, Enciso 10, Borboran 8, Caperal 7, Intal 6, Alolino 3, J. Wilson 3, Torres 3, Hayes 0, Lanete 0, Miranda 0.

Quarterscores: 25-19, 60-42, 82-65, 106-85