MANILA, Philippines—Sustaining its razor-sharp form in the playoffs, Alaska Friday night made up for a sluggish start with a furious finish to down fancied San Miguel Beer, 89-83, and gain a headstart in their best-of-seven series for the PBA Fiesta Conference crown at the Araneta Coliseum.
Diamon Simpson and LA Tenorio, Alaska’s top guns who wound up in the losing end of individual awards handed out before tip-off, formed the two-sided dagger that buried itself deep in the Beermen’s hearts.
Simpson was brilliant all night, shooting 28 points that went with 21 rebounds with Tenorio dropping two crucial three-point bombs inside the final 3:39. He also finished with a night-high eight assists.
“We got fired up and got back in the game and I think that run in the second quarter convinced us that we can play this game, too,” Alaska coach Tim Cone told reporters later, admitting that there is indeed the underdog mentality prevailing in his team’s locker room.
“The guys just really reached deep,” he continued. “We leaned on the confidence we got against (Barangay) Ginebra (in the quarterfinals) and Talk ‘N Text (in the Final Four). We’ve never really cracked and we’re getting better all the time.”
The defending champion Beermen opened up an 11-point lead early and looked headed to an easy outing until the Aces got going late in the first period.
Simpson then scored 13 of his total in the second and the Aces turned a six-point deficit at the end of the third into a six-point lead entering the third.
Alaska’s Game 1 victory was actually the team’s first over San Miguel in seven Fiesta Conference games dating back to 2007. The Aces also snapped a six-game losing streak in a title series counting the last two games of the 2008 Philippine Cup and a 0-4 loss to Purefoods in the same tournament this season.
The Aces never showed traces of fatigue, even if they were playing their 13th straight game since the start of the quarterfinals against the Gin Kings last July 9.
Named Best Import, Freeman picked up his fifth foul late in the third quarter but still finished with 37 points. Best Player of the Conference winner Jay Washington added 16. They were the only ones to finish in twin digits for the Beermen.
Earlier, Mac Cardona scored 30 points and Harvey Carey added 24 and 13 rebounds to power Talk ‘N Text to a 113-95 victory over Derby Ace for third place.
“It’s a useless game to play,” coach Chot Reyes said. “For the lack of a better word, this year absolutely sucked big time for us.”
First Game
TALK ‘N TEXT 113—Cardona 30, Carey 24, De Ocampo 11, Yee 10, Castro 10, Williams 8, Dillinger 5, Alapag 5, Quinahan 4, Aban 4, Daniels 2.
DERBY ACE 95—Canaleta 21, Simon 18, Washam 11, Adducul 10, Yap R. 9, Yap J. 8, Timberlake 6, Salvador 6, Allado 4, Maierhofer 1, Artadi 1, Fernandez 0, Reavis 0.
Quarters: 26-23, 52-47, 88-67, 113-95
Second Game
ALASKA 89—Simpson 28, Devance 14, Baguio 14, Tenorio 13, Hugnatan 8, Dela Cruz 7, Fonacier 5, Borboran 0, Eman 0.
SAN MIGUEL BEER 83—Freeman 37, Washington 16, Yeo 9, Hontiveros 8, Santos 7, Cabagnot 2, Ildefonso 2, Peña 2, Villanueva 0, Tugade 0, Racela 0, Seigle 0.
Quarters: 19-25, 48-42, 66-61, 89-83
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