Source: Pba.com.ph
A LONG coaching career has given Tim Cone not only the chance to see and experience almost everything there is to see a game. But Sunday night, he went through one gut-wrenching rollercoaster ride he’d rather forget.
“After 20 years in this business, this is not the first time this has happened to my team. Hopefully, this is the last,” said Cone after the Aces narrowly held off the Barangay Ginebra Kings 91-88 to move within another win of making the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup finals at the packed Araneta Coliseum.
Before a predominantly pro-Ginebra crowd of more than 18,800, Alaska almost squandered a 23-point lead in the last eight minutes. Good thing the Kings fully ran out of steam in the dying seconds, enabling the Aces to escape and move within another win of completing a rare sweep of a best-of-seven duel.
“We were lulled into thinking the game was over. Against Ginebra we should have known better,” said Cone.
The Aces now have the chance to advance into the finals with another win on Wednesday and Cone said the biggest lesson of Sunday’s game should brace them for that match.
“We know we can’t let our guard down and this should reinforce us, set us up for Game Four and get us by,” he stated.
“We kind of let down there, stopped playing after we led by 23 points,” Cone added. “Luckily, we made some good defensive stops in the end. We lost our poise but gained back some to eke out the win.”
Since best-of-seven duels were first began in 1982, only three teams have swept a series and Cone said that only tends to show how tough it is to pull off the feat.
The Aces sure will try though. “We’ll keep on plugging along,” Cone said.
Barangay Ginebra completed its fightback from a 65-88 deficit by pulling within 88-90, on a drive by Mark Caguioa, still 33.8 left, and it had the chance to at least tie when Ronald Tubid stripped LA Tenorio of the ball and was fouled with the Aces in penalty.
But Tubid came up empty on two charities and Reynel Hugnatan canned one in the ensuing play off a foul by Tubid to make it a three-point game, only 7.7 ticks left.
With no time out left, Barangay Ginebra was forced to freestyle it in the ensuing play. Caguioa then missed his three-point try and Sunday Salvacion’s own attempt was blocked by Mark Borboran as the final buzzer sounded.
Despite scoring only two points in the second half, Tenorio still shared Alaska scoring honors with Tony dela Cruz as each scored 15, with the latter also snaring as many rebounds. Joe Devance added 13 and seven and Miller 10 and nine.
Caguioa led all scorers with 20 points, along with nine rebounds and six assists, in another outstanding performance off the bench. JC Intal, Salvacion, Jayjay Helterbrand and Tubid chipped in at least 10 points each.
For a very long while it looked as if Alaska, which won via a lopsided 104-79 win in the opener, was set for a more comfortable victory than its 90-82 triumph last Friday when Hugnatan’s short stab first put the team up by 84-61, 9:35 left.
Borboran’s short stab staked the Aces to an 88-85 lead, 8:06 left, the biggest of the game, before they unexpectedly got held to just three free throws for the remainder of the game. In that stretch, Tenorio and Miller each had two of the team's seven turnovers while the Aces shot 0-for-7 from the field.
“We just started going through the motions, started playing cool and stopped doing what made us successful,” related Cone.
“They broke our rhythm with pressure down the stretch,” he added. “We thought we could get it back, but we just couldn’t.”
Dela Cruz already secured his second straight double-double as early as the third quarter, when he already had 13 points and as many rebounds and helped Alaska take a 76-59 lead into the last 12 minutes.
Thoss and Hugnatan had at least two fouls each as early as the first period and Miller was shut out by Ronald Tubid, but the Aces still dominated the first half due to the alternating sparks provided by Dela Cruz and Devance and sustained fire from Tenorio.
The Aces broke away from an early 15-13 count with an 8-0 run anchored on Tenorio and led by as much as 45-29 before settling for a 49-37 halftime count.
Barangay Ginebra had a bright spot in Caguioa, who already had 10 points at the half. Most of the other Kings, however, were unable to provide ample support and that simply would not do against the Aces’ vastly superior team play.
Tenorio already had 13 points at the half, eight coming in the opening quarter which Alaska took 23-14. Barangay Ginebra started digging the hole by going just 5-of-18 from the field and committing six turnovers. (NC)
The scores:
Alaska 91 - Tenorio 15, Dela Cruz 15, De Vance 13, Miller 10, Fonacier 9, Thoss 9, Hugnatan 9, Borboran 6, Ferriols 2, Cariaso 2, Cablay 1.
Barangay Ginebra 88 - Caguioa 20, Intal 12, Salvacion 12, Helterbrand 12, Tubid 10, Villanueva 9, Baguio 7, Abarrientos 4, Mamaril 2, Alvarez 0, Wilson 0, Cruz 0.
Quarterscores: 23-14, 49-37, 76-59, 91-88
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