Alaska puts the chains on Rain or Shine for 1-0 semis start

MANILA, Philippines – This time, the there was no demolition job. This time, the defense worked. This time, the Alaska Aces came to play. And this time, they won. 

In a rematch with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, the same team that dealt Alaska a 51-point blowout loss the last time they met, the Aces put them in chains and held them to under a hundred points as they clung to a 97-93 victory on Friday, June 20 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. 

The Aces executed well defensively and forced the Painters to key turnovers down the stretch to draw first blood in their best-of-5 semifinal series in the 2014 PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup. 

“I thought really the biggest thing was fourth quarter defensively,” noted Alaska head coach Alex Compton. “Finally we got them below a hundred.” 

The Painters have been a dominant force offensively in their last 5 games prior to tonight where they scored more than a hundred points for 4 of those games. They won all 4 times they scored over a hundred.  

In this game, however, Rain or Shine was left puzzled by Alaska’s suffocating defense as they put up only 19 points in the payoff period and committed 6 of their 15 turnovers as well.  

Among those key turnovers were a couple from guard Paul Lee.  

Lee, who wound up with 19 points, committed a miscue with 1:36 to play as his team held on to a slim 91-93 advantage. The turnover translated to a Vic Manuel short stab that knotted the count at 93.  

The other was the most pivotal as Lee made an errant pass to Jeff Chan on the inbound with 6.2 seconds left, resulting in the game-clinching freebies by import Henry Walker on the other end, 97-93. 

Rain or Shine had a chance to tie the game or win it on that possession, down 95-93, before the costly turnover. 

But as Rain or Shine laments those errors, Alaska revels in Walker’s endgame heroics.  

Walker, who led the Aces with his 31 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, two steals and two blocks, gave Alaska the lead with 49.3 ticks left, 95-93. He was also responsible for the endgame turnover as he read Lee’s pass well before swishing in his freebies.  

“Henry took over for us and rebounded from his poor shooting game last time,” said Compton. 

Compton received major contributions from Sonny Thoss and Manuel, who finished with 16 and 14 points, respectively.  

On the part of the Painters, import Arizona Reid had 27 points and 11 boards. 

Alaska weathered the Painters’ three-point shooting storm as the latter came up with 12 triples all game and even tallied 22 assists compared to Alaska’s 11. Second-chance points favored Alaska, 14-4.  

Compton admits he and the team try to bury the horrible memory of their worst loss in franchise history, but also said that constantly hearing about it humbles them and pushes them forward.  

“It’s good that everywhere we go we see 51 points at least our guys know that we can win against this team and for our confidence that’s good.”

The Aces have the advantage for now, but admit that they cannot risk lifting their foot off the gas pedal. 

“While it’s nice, it’s just one point in a race to 3 points. So it was important for our confidence but in the overall scheme of things you don’t win a series with a Game 1,” Compton said. “Hopefully we can build on this.” 

Scores

Alaska 97 – Walker 31, Thoss 16, Manuel 14, Casio 7, Jazul 7, Abueva 7, Espinas 5, Hontiveros 5, Baguio 5, Dela Cruz 0. 

Rain or Shine 93 – Reid 27, Lee 19, Chan 14, Tiu 8, Norwood 6, Arana 5, Belga 4, Almazan 3, Ibanes 3, Cruz 2, Nuyles 2, Rodriguez 0.

Quarter scores: 19-24, 46-45, 73-74, 97-93. 

– Rappler.com