Aces slip past Beermen for 2-0 lead; Manuel shines anew

Vic Manuel celebrates at the end of the buzzer. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Alaska slipped past San Miguel Beer anew, 83-80, to take a 2-0 lead in the 2016 Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup Finals Tuesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Aces forward Vic Manuel atoned for a costly turnover with a last-second block on Beermen center Yancy de Ocampo and two clutch free throws as he played hero for his team for the second straight game.

Manuel, who spearheaded the Aces’ comeback win in Game 1 last Sunday, had a team-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field that went with seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

“I’m glad we pulled it off,” said Alaska head coach Alex Compton. “I love Vic’s guts.”

Game 3 is on Friday at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena.

The Beermen played without their superstar center June Mar Fajardo for the second time in a row, but just like in Game 1, they managed to give the Aces a scare.

Down one, 81-80, after Alaska swingman Dondon Hontiveros’ free throw with under a minute left, San Miguel muffed a ton of golden opportunities to pull ahead.

Marcio Lassiter stepped out of bounds on what could’ve been a beeline drive from the right baseline, Yancy de Ocampo missed two freebies, Ronald Tubid misfired on a wide open 3-pointer from the right corner in front of his team’s bench and De Ocampo’s hook shot from close range got swatted away by Manuel all inside the last 40 seconds of the game.

Alex Cabagnot scored a game-high 23 points for the Beermen while De Ocampo, who started in place of Fajardo, had another impressive performance with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

“We lost our chances to get the lead,” said SMB head coach Leo Austria. “We did a good job against them and we did not give up in spite of our handicap.”

“We just need to keep on fighting back,” Austria said on facing a 2-0 series deficit. “We still have a chance even if we’re down 0-2.”

Lassiter and Santos added 11 and 10 points, respectively but both combined for 8-of-28 from the field.