Aces get back at Bolts, even PBA semis series at 1-1

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Alaska fended off a fiery fightback by Meralco, 100-95, in Game 2 to even their 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals series Tuesday night at Mall of Asia Arena.

Mike Harris pumped in a game-high 37 points while JVee Casio scored all of his four points from the free throw line inside the last 20 seconds to close out the Bolts.

Harris finished with a game-high 37 points and 19 rebounds for the Aces, who bounced back from a 97-92 loss in Game 1 last Sunday in Antipolo.

“I’m just happy to win. Now it’s a best-of-three,” said Alaska head coach Alex Compton, who heaved a sigh of relief.

The Aces snapped the Bolts’ seven-game winning streak but not until holding them off despite building a 20-point lead in the third quarter.

“If there were people not paying attention to Meralco for the last seven to eight games, I hope they are now. Great character for them. We were up 20 and they came back,” Compton said. “They never gave up. You saw the spirit of Meralco in the end.”

Meralco still had a chance to tie but Baser Amer missed a deep 3-pointer before Simon Enciso hit a pair of freebies with 2.9 seconds to go to seal the game.

Enciso had the hot hand going 5-of-8 from the 3-point area to wind up with 23 points while Chris Banchero bucked a sprained right ankle and nearly had a triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

Game 3 is on Thursday at Cuneta Astrodome.

Allen Durham had 24 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists while Nico Salva tallied a career-high tying 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field.