Aces grab last q’final berth

Chris Banchero helps send the Aces into the quarterfinals with a clutch performance against Meralco. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

It was a game that featured teams alternating big shots with big stops, two squads that fought hard until the end, never mind if winning meant going up against the tournament’s best squad where the chances of survival are slim to none.

Chris Banchero buried a tough, clutch basket to force overtime while Jeron Teng beat a path to an uncontested put-back as Alaska hammered out a 108-103 victory over Meralco in a do-or-die match Friday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Mall of Asia Arena.

Vic Manuel also hit big shots for the Aces, finishing with 23 points. Banchero, who had 15 points, hit the last five points in regulation to force the extra period while Teng’s follow-up gave the Aces cushion they needed to hold off the stubborn Bolts.

“I think we gave the PBA fans their first taste of [this conference’s] playoff basketball,” Alex Compton said after the game where neither team surrendered an inch.

The prize, though, for going toe-to-toe with a Bolts crew that had its share of huge baskets and defensive plays? A showdown with No. 1 seed TNT KaTropa, which owns twice-to-beat protection in the quarterfinals.

But the prospects of a tough outing in the first round of the playoffs did not dampen Compton’s mood. At least, not yet.

“I’m gonna go back to a happy locker room for the first time in a month,” said Compton, whose wards were on a five-game losing slide entering the knockout match.

Meralco, meanwhile, forced the playoff for the No. 8 seed with a huge upset of San Miguel Beer at the end of the Bolts’ elimination round campaign.

The quarterfinals get going on Saturday and Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone believes a reversal of fortunes is in order as the Gin Kings prepare to face a very familiar foe.

“We’ve beaten them in the eliminations, only to fall short against them in the playoffs,” Cone said of Magnolia, who the Kings play in the nightcap of a quarterfinal doubleheader at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

“We need to change that narrative this time around,” he said. “We need to lift our game.”

In the other pairing, youthful Blackwater looks to further build on an already impressive run this conference.

“We have to execute our game plan [by the book],” Elite coach Aris Dimaunahan told the Inquirer on Friday afternoon, shortly after polishing his preparations against Rain or Shine. The two teams clash in the 4:30 p.m. curtain-raiser.