Resilient Aces upend Bolts, seize 1-0 lead

ALASKA’S Cyrus Baguio holds Cliff Hodge’s left arm to prevent the Meralco forward from scoring in last night’s still unfinished semifinal game at Smart Araneta Coliseum. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

ALASKA’S defense was at its unforgiving best in the stretch on Monday night as the Aces gutted out a 97-94 victory over Meralco to take a 1-0 lead in their half of the Oppo-PBA Commissioner’s Cup Final Four at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

The Aces held the Bolts to 15 final-quarter points and to just eight inside the last 5:08 as they roared back from nine points down early in the period to clip the No. 2 seeds and gain the headstart in this short best-of-five affair.

“We’re one step closer [to the Finals],” Alaska coach Alex Compton said. “But they (Bolts) are going to come back, and like this game, the next one will again be tough.”

RJ Jazul started out at the point in the continued absence of the injured JV Casio and was at his best on both ends when the Aces wrested command going into the homestretch.

The 6-footer out of Letran scored seven straight points and had a critical block on the much-taller Reynel Hugnatan, helping usher the Aces to a 95-91 lead going into the final 2:28.

Jazul finished with a team-best 18 points and Calvin Abueva came off the bench to shoot all of his 15 in the final half—13 in the third— with his only bucket in the fourth responsible for that four-point lead.

Game 2 of this series is slated tomorrow, also at the Big Dome, where Rain or Shine today shoots for a commanding 2-0 lead over San Miguel Beer at 7 p.m.

Alaska survived the gritty Bolts despite a very mediocre offensive game from import Rob Dozier, who finished with just seven points and eight rebounds after playing less than 32 minutes because of foul trouble.

Dozier, who helped the Aces win this tournament in 2013 while copping Best Import honors, also missed two free throws with 3.1 seconds left to give Meralco one final chance to tie it up.

But Ronjay Buenafe, plucked out of the bench in the final three seconds by coach Norman Black to take a triple, launched a long one that landed to the right.

Alaska also played without Vic Manuel and had a scary sequence in the final five seconds when Abueva limped out after slipping.

The scores:

ALASKA 97—Jazul 18, Abueva 15, Baguio 13, Banchero 10, Exciminiano 9, Dozier 7, Menk 7, Baclao 6, Hontiveros 6, Thoss 4, Dela Cruz 2, Dela Rosa 0.

MERALCO 94—Hugnatan 21, Hodge 14, Dillinger 12, Caram 11, Onuaku 11, Faundo 8, Newsome 7, Bono 6, Alapag 2, Amer 2, Buenafe 0.

Quarters: 26-23, 43-48, 71-79, 97-94