BALANGA, Bataan – Alaska Milk jumped the gun on Red Bull before playing with all its resolve to hold on for an 84-81 victory in the kickoff game of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup watched by a sellout crowd at the Peoples Center here yesterday. Terrance Badgette scored 28 points, capping an impressive debut with a string of crucial baskets in the fourth quarter as Alaska held off a searing Red Bull rally.
Alaska shot 61 percent in the first half and led by 58-40 early in the third, making the rest of the game look like a walk in the park until Red Bull hit its stride and almost turned the game around.
The Aces eventually clinched the game only after Ato Agustin muffed a potential game-tying three-point attempt in the closing seconds.
Red Bull’s downfall was aided by import Antonio Lang’s poor performance from the stripe. The NBA veteran, touted to be one of the imports to watch in the mid-season tournament, went 6-of-16 from the free throw line, establishing a season record for most misses by one player from that spot.
Meanwhile, the initial regular twinbill in the second conference is played today at the Araneta Coliseum, marking the return stint of the flashy Ansu Sesay for Sta. Lucia Realty and the debut of three more new imports.
Sesay, who was largely responsible for Sta. Lucia’s first-ever finals stint in the same tournament last year, tests the mettle of the highly-touted Jason Sasser as the Realtors and the Pop Cola Panthers clash in the 4:15 p.m. curtain-raiser. Juaquin Hawkins and Kevin Maurice Freeman then take the spotlight as Shell and Tanduay mix it up at 6:30.
The Turbo Chargers and the Panthers, who both narrowly missed the first conference finals, are both raring to make a bigger impact in the tournament while the Realtors and the Rhum Masters are out to regain respect after their forgettable All-Filipino stints.
Sta. Lucia finished deadlast in the All-Filipino but is returning to action in high spirits as it was able to rehire Sesay.
Named Best Import in last year’s Commissioner’s Cup, Sesay plunges back to PBA action tonight, pitted against probably the import with the most impressive credentials attached to his name.
The Pop Cola management exerted extra efforts to sign up Sasser, a World Basketball Championships veteran who has had stints with the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and the Vancouver Grizzlies in the NBA.
Ato Agustin played big, holding the team together when the Thunder made a run at Alaska, scoring five straight points at one crucial point to shove Red Bull within 76-77 with still 4:21 left to play.
But Badgette scored four straight points – grabbing a rebound off his missed three-point play and putting it in – and Ali Peek followed it up with a slam in the next Alaska possession as the Aces posted another commanding lead at 84-76 with 1:11 left.
But Red Bull got another lease on life after Willie Miller scored on a layup and Alaska coughed the ball up, resulting in two Kerby Raymundo free throw tries which the pride of this province halved for an 81-84 deficit with 30.6 left.
Don Allado had a chance to seal the outcome for Alaska but missed a short stab, giving Red Bull one final crack at sending the game into overtime.