PBA: Alaska rallies past San Mig Coffee, forges do-or-die for semis slot

Cyrus Baguio of Alaska (dark) vs Mark Barroca and Marc Pingris of San Mig Coffee (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines — Alaska climbed out of a double-digit hole in the fourth quarter to stun San Mig Coffee, 112-105, and forged a rubber match for a semifinals slot in the 38th PBA Governors’ Cup Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Flashy two-guard Cyrus Baguio sparked a fourth-quarter run with nine unanswered points in just under three minutes in the final frame as the Aces closed the game on a 31-12 tear after trailing, 81-93.

“We can’t be satisfied now. We can’t celebrate. We have one more to take care of,” said Alaska head coach Luigi Trillo, whose team aims to knock off the second-seed Mixers on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena for a semis seat. “To me they have the deepest lineup and if you face them in a best-of-seven they got the depth to adjust. Now is the best time. It’s two games. They have been beaten before by Powerade as the number one seed.”

“I thought we did well in just battling. They needed this one. We knew they were going to throw knockout punches. We stepped up defensively,” added Trillo.

Baguio kickstarted Alaska’s late run and JVee Casio and import Wendell McKines followed suit.

Casio, who led all locals in scoring with 21 points to go along with seven assists and three steals, completed a four-point play off a James Yap foul that gave the Aces a 102-99 edge with 4:12 to go.

McKines padded on to Alaska’s lead on a breakaway dunk off a hustle by Tony dela Cruz, who dove to save a loose ball from going out of bounds that fell into the hands of Casio before dishing it out to the open import for a 107-102 cushion with 47.1 ticks left.

The stocky import McKines, who was the game’s top scorer and rebounder with 38 points and 13 rebounds, then sealed his team’s comeback with a three-point play to make it, 110-102, with 24.6 seconds left following a pair of misses by Marc Pingris at the free throw line.

Overall, the Mixers missed 18 out of their 40 attempts at the line with their import Marqus Blakely going nine-of-22.

“Blakely is a beast but he still has to prove that he can hit his free throws,” said Trillo. “Expect next game to be more physical and we cherish this type of competition.”

Baguio finished with 17 points and so did center Sonny Thoss, who also grabbed seven rebounds.

PJ Simon, who gave Alaska fits in the second quarter, cooled off in the fourth period with 15 points through three quarters.