Alaska takes down San Miguel for solo first place

MANILA, Philippines – The Alaska Aces remained immaculate at 4-0 and moved to solo first place in the standings after trouncing the San Miguel Beermen, 66-63, in the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday, November 5 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Alaska had the upper-hand in the endgame as Cyrus Baguio and JVee Casio conspired for the clutch baskets that dented San Miguel’s record, 3-1.

“They shut us down and it was just a defensive battle,” Alaska head coach said. “Really proud of our guys that got stops in the end.”

Baguio drained a three-pointer with 1:28 left to bring the Aces to within 60-61 after the Beermen led by 61-55 with 2:33 to go.

Casio later found himself free and buried the clutch go-ahead jumper off a Calvin Abueva dish to put Alaska ahead, 64-63, with 33 seconds remaining.

The 28-year old point guard then finished the job with a pair of free throws, 66-63, with 17.9 ticks on the clock to notch final tally.

Baguio topscored for the Aces with 13 points while Casio followed with 11 markers.

Abueva, who had a chance to ice the game but missed his charities, only had 5 points but made up for it with his 18 rebounds, including the defensive board following Sol Mercado’s potential game-tying triple that rimmed out.

Alaska’s defense held up in the final play with 7.3 remaining with Ronald Tubid nearly failing to inbound the ball from the sideline as Marcio Lassiter took the last shot that wasn’t even close.

“I think I was most proud of the 63 points (of San Miguel). The effort that our guys showed giving 25 points up in the second half couldn’t make me happier,” Compton praised his players for their stingy defense, which kept the Beermen to just 11 points in the fourth.

“Sixty-three points is impressive defense. I hope we can sustain that.”

Arwind Santos, who once again put up an all-around performance and led all Beermen with his 14 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks, never had his hand on the ball in the last play.

“It’s an absolute character win against a team I expect to be successful and run deep into the playoffs and win championships for years to come,” Compton said.

The defensive win masked Alaska’s offensive struggles, which saw them shoot just 29%. However they kept San Miguel to a similar shooting clip.

Alaska’s 66 points is the all-time lowest winning score in franchise history, according to PBA Head Statistician Fidel Mangonon III.

Compton believes the team has a lot of work to do offensively.

“We couldn’t score on them either. Sixty-six points is terrible offense.”

The Aces zoomed to a 7-0 edge to start the game but the Beermen countered with an 11-2 run and maintained their intensity to notch a double-digit lead, 33-22, and eventually end the first half up by 38-30.

Casio briefly gave Alaska a taste of the lead in the third with a triple, 44-43, before ending that quarter down by just 50-52.

Chris Lutz, who scored 7 straight points in San Miguel’s early run, finished with 13 points.

Reigning MVP June Mar Fajardo had another double-double outing with 10 points and 16 rebounds.

Scores:

ALASKA (66): Baguio 13, Casio 11, Thoss 9, Eman 8, Manuel 8, Abueva 5, Jazul 4, Banchero 3, Hontiveros 3, Exciminiano 2, Dela Cruz 0, Bugia 0, Dela Rosa 0, Vanlandingham 0.

SAN MIGUEL (63): Santos 14, Lutz 13, Fajardo 10, Mercado 7, Tubid 6, Ross 5, Semerad 4, Lassiter 4, Pascual 0, Hubalde 0, Omolon 0, Chua 0.

Quarter scores: 19-19, 30-38, 50-52, 66-63.

Here are some photos of the game taken by Nuki Sabio/PBA Images

– Rappler.com