Hardworking Abueva tows Alaska past Ginebra

Calvin Abueva vs Othyus Jeffers. PBA IMAGES

Calvin Abueva dove for loose balls, stuck his tongue out and flexed his muscles after another tireless effort on both ends of the floor.

Abueva did a little bit of everything and Alaska held off Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 86-80, for its fourth straight win in the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Wednesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“It’s always difficult when you play Ginebra. I’ve been really trying to get Othyus Jeffers as import for six years. My respect for him is through the roof. To have us defend him that well gave me a sigh of relief and made me really happy,” said Alaska head coach Alex Compton. “Special mention to Calvin Abueva but it was a team defense.”

The 28-year-old undersized forward had 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists, one steal and a block while making Gin Kings import Othyus Jeffers bleed for his points in a masterful defensive performance.

With Abueva in his face, Jeffers was held without a field goal in the first 28 minutes of the game.

Shane Edwards scored 25 points on top of 11 rebounds and five assists as Alaska remained undefeated with him on board while first-choice import Rob Dozier recuperates from plantar fasciitis.

“He keeps winning games and the great thing about it is that Rob (Dozier) is cheering for him,” said Compton after his team’s record rose to 4-1.

The Aces took a 79-68 lead on a basket by Abueva to finish off a fastbreak play before the Kings went on a 10-0 run to cut it to 79-78 with 2:40 left.

Under duress, Alaska guard RJ Jazul silenced the predominant Ginebra crowd with a clutch 3-pointer with 2:03 remaining and then made two pressure-packed free throws to make it, 84-80, with 13.7 ticks left.

Greg Slaughter led all scorers with 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field for Ginebra, which saw its winning streak end at three games to drop 3-3.

But it was during the time when the Kings went small with Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar on the bench that they made a run from 14 down late in the third quarter.

Jeffers struggled offensively but he still came away with 21 points on 7-of-25 shooting but had seven turnovers. He also grabbed 24 rebounds.