Video by INQUIRER.net’s Ryan Leagogo
MANILA, Philippines — Alaska had come back from huge deficits before but none bigger than what the Aces had to climb out from on Wednesday night.
The Aces, who won despite trailing by at least 17 points in two semifinals games against Rain or Shine, rose from 22 points down to steal Game 1 of the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup Finals from San Miguel Beer, 88-82, in overtime at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Calvin Abueva was all over the floor to finish with 22 points and 10 rebounds while rookie Chris Banchero and veteran swingman Dondon Hontiveros came through with 16 and 15 points, respectively for Alaska, which equaled its franchise low in a quarter after scoring only five points in the opening period.
Vic Manuel of Alaska battles Arwin Santos of SMB for the ball. PBA Images
“I thought that we had about as bad of a start as we could have in the first quarter and I thought that the credit should go to San Miguel,” said Alaska head coach Alex Compton with a hoarse voice. “But we really came out flat, it’s like we were the ones who came from a layoff.”
“But in the second half, that’s what I love about these guys. They just never gave up. They kept on chipping away, chipping away and they turned up their intensity. We got contributions from all around,” Compton added. “We gave up 27 points in the first quarter and we only gave up 55 points the rest of the way and that’s why we won the game.”
Alaska had its first taste of the lead at the midway mark of the fourth quarter after a 3-pointer by RJ Jazul and both teams went back-and-forth from there. San Miguel Beer reclaimed the lead, 70-69, on a 3-pointer by Alex Cabagnot with 3:28 left in regulation and it seemed like the Beermen had taken the momentum back to their favor.
But Hontiveros put the Aces back in the driver’s seat after sinking an open jumper, 74-73, with 40.8 seconds left before June Mar Fajardo split his charities with a free throw with 8.8 ticks to go.
Players from both squads made big shots but there were also quite a number of head-scratching plays down the stretch in regulation.
Cabagnot for instance, turned the ball over on a pass to Fajardo before launching an ill-advised 3-pointer with his team up by one, 73-72. Alaska guard JVee Casio then, took a hurried shot with what was supposed to be the last possession in the final quarter. Chris Lutz too, had a mental lapse when after gaining possession following Casio’s miss, he immediately threw a heave outside the half court line with still over three seconds left and the Beermen having two full timeouts.
“In the last possession [in the fourth quarter], we should’ve called a timeout but sometimes the players fail to see how much time is left on the clock,” said SMB head coach Leo Austria.
Casio chipped in 13 points, highlighted by timely triples in key situations. He broke a 76-deadlock with 3:08 left in extra time before Hontiveros, the deadliest 3-point shooter on the floor with over 990 3-pointers throughout his career, followed it up with his own version for an 82-76 advantage with 2:21 remaining.
Fajardo, the reigning MVP, got off to a solid start with eight first quarter points but scored just six points the rest of the way. The 6-foot-10 center wound up with 14 points and 17 rebounds but looked beat in the fourth quarter and overtime. He played a game-high 47 minutes.
Game 2 of the Finals is on Friday night also at the Big Dome with the top-seeded Beermen, who committed 26 turnovers, looking to avoid a 2-0 series deficit.
Originally posted as of 10:14 PM | Wednesday, January 7, 2014
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