Alaska, Meralco duel for solo PH Cup lead

Fresh off high-wire victories, Alaska and Meralco slug it out today for the solo lead even as Globalport tries to extend defending champion Purefoods’ woes in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

With 2-0 records following strikingly similar escapes on Tuesday night, the Aces and the Bolts take the Big Dome floor in the 4:15 p.m. contest, before the Batang Pier seek their first-ever winning streak under Pido Jarencio at 7.

Calvin Abueva and Cliff Hodge, a pair of third-year power forwards, will be coming off career games in leading their respective teams after logging 26 points and 22 rebounds and 28 and 18, respectively.

Abueva hit the game-winning floater at the buzzer in a 100-98 nipping of Talk ‘N Text and will try to spearhead the Aces again to one of their finest tournament starts in years.

Hodge, meanwhile, did most of everything in an 85-77 overtime win by Meralco over newcomer Blackwater.

Meralco needed a total of three overtimes to win its first two games, something that coach Norman Black doesn’t mind.

“They seem to like it, but as long as we come out on top, it’s not a problem for me,” Black said.

Globalport at 1-1 is still labeled as the underdog in the nightcap.

Purefoods lost its first two games but showed marked improvement the last time out in an 80-87 loss to powerhouse San Miguel Beer where the Star Hotshots played without three key men from their Grand Slam run last season.

Marc Pingris, two-time MVP James Yap and 6-foot-7 sophomore Ian Sangalang were in the sidelines but the Hotshots still contended.

Jarencio, who has won a combined three games in his tenure as coach dating back to the Commissioner’s Cup last season, is under pressure to deliver for Batang Pier.

Team owner Mikee Romero didn’t make it a secret that Jarencio is “under assessment.”

There are unconfirmed reports that Globalport met with Franz Pumaren last week after the Batang Pier and Jarencio lost to NLEX in their debut a week ago.

In a related development, the league’s board of governors yesterday approved the inclusion of Asian imports for the season-ending Governors’ Cup. The idea was first brought up by chair Patrick Gregorio of PLDT during the body’s planning session in Seoul last month.