PBA: Alaska survives Barako Bull to force playoff with Meralco

MANILA, Philippines – The Alaska Aces, teetering on the edge of a cliff and close to missing the playoffs, pulled themselves back to slightly safer ground as they gave themselves one final chance at making the top 8 in the standings. 

The Aces played impeccable basketball in the pivotal fourth period to finally break free from the fierce grip of the Barako Bull Energy Cola, 89-80, on Sunday, January 19 in the PLDT myDSL Philippine Cup at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. 

“We live to fight another day. It’s been painful this conference,” Alaska head coach Luigi Trillo said. 

After multiple attempts at pulling away from the pesky Energy Cola all throughout, Alaska found a rhythm that worked well for them on both ends of the floor for most of the final quarter.  

Despite playing that period sans 2013 Rookie of the Year Calvin Abueva, who fouled out with 10:23 left, the Aces went on a 15-4 blitz thanks to the combined offensive outburst of JVee Casio, Cyrus Baguio and Gabby Espinas. That run was capped off by a Tony Dela Cruz jumper with 5:41 remaining that made it an 11-point 79-68 lead. 

A triple by RJ Jazul with 3:10 left to play stretched the Aces’ advantage to 15 points, 87-72. 

All that was a product of Alaska tightening the knob on defense to stifle Barako’s offense. It was also due to exceptional ball movement, which basically made their offense unpredictable for Barako. 

“Today we played much better in terms of having killer instinct,” Trillo explained. “We went up by 6 or 7 and then we stepped on the gas pedal.”

Casio led the Aces with 24 points as he waxed hot from deep with 4 three-pointers. Espinas flirted with the double-double with 21 points and 9 rebounds. 

For Barako, rookie Carlo Lastimosa shone bright with 11 points behind Ronjay Buenafe’s 14 markers. They remain at sixth place and will be going up against the third seed. 

Meanwhile, the dominant victory by Alaska allowed them to set up a playoff for the eighth and final spot against the Meralco Bolts on Monday, January 20 at the Mall of Asia Arena. 

Trillo expects Meralco to be a difficult mountain to climb for the Aces. 

“It’s a veteran team, highest respect for coach Ryan (Gregorio),” Trillo said. “We know what Gary David and Jared (Dillinger) and those other guys can do. We’re just thankful for the opportunity and thankful for lessons learned.

Scores:

Alaska (89): Casio 24, Espinas 21, Jazul 11, Abueva 9, Baguio 8, Thoss 6, Eman 6, Dela Cruz 4, Hontiveros 0, Avenido 0, Ramos 0, Buenafe 0.

Barako Bull (80): Buenafe 14, Lastimosa 11, Pena 8, Macapagal 7, Miller 7, Jensen 6, Wilson 6, Isip 6, Pennisi 6, Intal 5, Maierhofer 2, Miranda 2, Marcelo 0, Labagala 0.

Quarters: 22-17, 41-38, 62-63, 89-80 – Rappler.com