It probably was not a surprise that Alaska star Vic Manuel played his best game in the PBA Philippine Cup against Phoenix.

After all, on the other side of the floor was his close friend Calvin Abueva, who recently returned to the PBA hardcourt after enduring a 16-month suspension.

Manuel delivered 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists in 27 minutes off the bench as Alaska pulled off a 105-97 comeback win over Phoenix on Thursday, October 29.

It was the first time the former teammates faced each other in more than a year, and the matchup lived up to the hype, with Abueva also churning out all-around numbers of 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.

“Of course, [Vic] is going to be a little bit more exciting tonight because of Calvin,” said Alaska head coach Jeff Cariaso.

“I like when other players bring out the best in you and Calvin does that to him and I’m sure he does that to Calvin.”

But Manuel got the better of Abueva, scoring all of his 10 fourth-quarter points in a 22-7 run Alaska used to turn a 79-80 deficit to a 101-87 lead with 3 minutes remaining.

Manuel missed just 1 of his 6 shots in the last frame as he breached the 20-point mark for the first time in the conference.

“Vic is turning into that guy that we can rely on down the stretch and that is part of his role now,” Cariaso said.

“We ask him to be that leader and a part of his role is being reliable down the stretch,” Cariaso added in a mix of Filipino and English.

Alaska improved to 5-3 with the win, good for 5th place. – Rappler.com