PBA: Alaska boosts top four bid, halts NLEX’s streak

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MANILA, Philippines — Alaska boosted its bid for a top four finish after outlasting NLEX, 122-119, in overtime in the PBA Philippine Cup Monday at AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center in Angeles, Pampanga.

Maverick Ahanmisi delivered his best game in the bubble with 25 points, 12 rebounds and three steals to lead the Aces.

“We just wanted to come out and be aggressive. We knew how big this game was,” Ahanmisi said.

“For us to be in contention for the top four we needed to win this game.”

Alaska hiked its record to 7-4 just a half-game behind Barangay Ginebra, TNT and Phoenix, who all have 7-3 records.

Ahanmisi fouled out with 1:08 left in the game but not after he gave the Aces a 120-115 cushion off a strong drive with 1:18 remaining.

JVee Casio, who sealed the big win for Alaska with a free throw with 9.1 ticks to go, added 19 points, including a basket that forced overtime with 37.4 seconds left.

NLEX guard Kiefer Ravena topscored with 30 points but he misfired on an open triple that would’ve tied the game at 120 with under 15 seconds remaining.

The loss dealt a big blow to the Road Warriors playoff chances as they fell to 4-5 and moved 1.5 games behind Rain or Shine for the eighth and last quarterfinals slot.