The Alaska Aces weathered a blazing Barangay Ginebra surge in the third period with a determined defensive stance in the fourth canto to post a hard-earned 102-99 victory in the 2013 Philippine Basketball Association Governors Cup at the SM Mall of Asia Arena last Sunday, September 1. Barangay Ginebra detonated a bomb in the third quarter outscoring the Aces 36-20 as the Aces trailed 70-76 going in to the payoff fourth period. The Aces kept their composure down the stretch, executed their plays and held firm at the defensive end to post the scrambling victory over their bitter rivals. Alaska Aces import Wendell McKines played his best game this conference to tow the Aces to victory and gain the Player of the Game honors. “Coach (Luigi Trillo) told us to weather the storm. He asked us to stay together, keep fighting and keep helping each other out. We never gave up. The team never gave. We believe in each other which is why we prevailed in the end,” said McKines. The Alaska import scored a team high 27 points, grabbed a team-high 16 rebounds and issued five assists to earn Player of the Game honors. “It’s nice to see Wendell scratch and claw for everything. He got angry with the defense on him by Willy Wilson. But he needed to get through them in order for us to win. He did and it was key to our victory,” said Alaska Aces head coach Luigi Trillo. Ginebra’s Mark Caguioa drained a jumper as Alaska fell behind by four points, 94-98, with just 2:06 to go in the match. At the Alaska offensive McKines threw a long, crosscourt pass which found an open Cyrus Baguio just in front of the Alaska bench. Baguio squared himself just outside the free throw line then drilled the three-pointer to cut the Ginebra lead to just one point, 97-98, with 1:42 to go. At the defensive end Baguio continued to work hard picking off a wayward Ginebra pass and starting the Alaska fastbreaking counter attack. Baguio found McKines galloping down the court with his pass. McKines found an open Calvin Abueva just underneath the goal and Abueva converted the wide open layup as Alaska grabbed the lead for good, 99-98. Ginebra could not score in the next sequence and Sonny Thoss was sent to the foul line at the other end. Thoss split his free throw to push Alaska to a two-point advantage, 100-98. Ginebra’s LA Tenorio could only split his charity, thanks in large part to Alaska coach Trillo calling a timeout after Tenorio converted his first free throw. Tenorio was out of his rhythm and missed the second free throw because of the timeout. Baguio again hatched the play for the final bucket for Alaska. He posted up Tenorio and backed up close to the goal. When the Ginebra defenders closed in on Baguio, McKines slashed to the basket, received the ball from Baguio and converted the layup to finalize the count, 102-99. Ginebra import Dior Lowhorn (who finished with 37 points, 17 rebounds and two steals) converted a short stab as Alaska fell behind by two points, 89-91, with 4:21 to go in the game. Mark Caguioa would then drill a three-pointer and Mac Baracael would add a jumper as Ginebra seemed to have erected a safe lead, 96-89, with 3:09 to go in the match. The game had its usual share of horrendous calls and non calls with the bulk going against Alaska as usual. At the 11:43 of the third quarter Coach Trillo had enough and complained bitterly as Jayjay Helterbrand traveled taking four steps after stopping his dribble. Instead of correcting their call the referees slapped coach Trillo with a technical foul and gave Ginebra a free throw With the victory the Aces (2 wins, 1 loss) climbed into solo fourth place behind the Petron Blaze Boosters (4-1), the Barako Bull Energy Colas (3-1) and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (3-2). The other teams include Global Port Batang Pier (2-2), the Meralco Bolts (2-2), the Talk N Text Tropang Texters (2-2), Ginebra (1-3), the San Mig Coffee Mixers (1-3) and the Air21 Express (1-4). Alaska enjoyed balanced scoring with six players (McKines with 27; Calvin Abueva 18, Cyrus Baguio 18, Gabby Espinas 12, Sonny Thoss 12 and Jvee Casio 11) tallying double digit scores. Abueva also collected 11 rebounds and issued five assists. Thoss also grabbed eight rebounds while Baguio also had five assists. Tenorio and Mac Baracael towed Barangay Ginebra in the third period. Tenorio dribbled, dished and scored on layups while Baracael drilled his step back jumpers as Ginebra outscored Alaska, 36-20, in the third quarter to turn a 10-point halftime deficit, 40-50, to a 76-70 lead after the third period. Late in the second quarter Lowhorn went to work inside the paint scoring on a variety of moves just around the basket area to cut the Alaska lead to just three points, 43-40. Alaska import McKines then took it upon himself to counter the Ginebra surge as he scored back-to-back baskets to go with a triple by Jvee Casio as Alaska erected a 10-point halftime lead, 50-40. Baguio opened the game’s scoring sequence with an acrobatic fastbreak layup to push Alaska to a 2-0 lead. But Lowhorn teamed up with Chris Ellis as the Aces fell behind briefly, 5-6, with 9:04 to go in the first period. Abueva then entered the fray to ignite the Aces. Abueva blocked an Ellis layup attempt then scored on his own finger roll layup to start an Alaska run. Abueva came off the bench to provide the spark, rebounding muscle and points to key a 19-8 blast as the Aces posted a 24-14 lead after the first period.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 03:00:47 +0000
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