Aces quell Clickers late rally

MANILA, Philippines - Alaska Milk survived a surge by Shopinas.com late in the game to hack out an 86-80 victory yesterday, its first back-to-back wins for a spot inside the magic eight in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Sonny Thoss and Jay-R Reyes imposed their will inside as they combined for 28 points, 25 rebounds and seven blocks to power the Aces to their second straight triumph and third overall against seven losses. The duo also pooled nine assists.

The win thus moved Alaska from ninth to joint eighth with Powerade going to the playoffs phase of the tournament.

“This is our first back-to-back wins this conference and I have to give credit to them, they (Clickers) played small because they know they couldn’t match in size,” said Alaska coach Joel Banal.

“But in the end, our big guys gave them problems in the post that they had to focus a little bit on defense. That somehow took off their minds on what they’re trying to do offensively, which run, run and shoot,” he added.

In the other game, B-Meg put on a strong finish to outlast Barangay Ginebra, 88-76, and join Meralco at fourth with 6-4 slates.

James Yap led five other teammates in double figures with 17 points while rookie Mark Barroca added 14 markers. But it was the pair of Marc Pingris and Roger Yap who keyed the big fourth-quarter run as the Llamados notched their fourth straight victory for a spot in the Magic Four after a shaky start.

The Kings kept the game close majority of the way but lost in the face of the Llamados big run midway in the fourth. They fell to 4-5 and remained at seventh spot.

The Clickers rode practically on the tandem of RJ Jazul and Jojo Duncil with the former pouring in a career-high 24-point output, highlighted by six triples, and the latter coming up with 13 points, six rebounds and personal-best eight assists.

But the Clickers failed to stop Thoss and Reyes and cracked under pressure at crunchtime, missing a couple of shots and turning the ball over in the closing seconds.

Shopinas.com took its 11th straight setback, tying the league’s third longest losing skid recorded by Welcoat in 2007.

The longest was 13 by Great Taste in 1982 and Country Fair in 1984.

Eric Salamat beat the buzzer with a layup in transition to give Alaska, which came off a 121-111 victory over Powerade last week, a 71-58 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Shopinas.com seized the initiative early, 11-7, but Cyrus Baguio came up with 10-point burst later in the period as Alaska grabbed a 19-18 edge.

The Aces sustained their run and built a 39-27 lead, the biggest in the first half, but Shopinas.com shooters clicked with Jazul firing three treys to close the gap at 40-45 at the break.

The scores:

First Game

Alaska 86 – Thoss 15, Reyes 13, Baguio 12, Custodio 10, Dela Cruz 9, Baracael 8, Tenorio 8, Salamat 4, Bugia 4, Eman 3.

Shopinas.com 80 – Jazul 24, Duncil 13, Sena 8, Hubalde 8, Sison 7, Espiritu 7, Escobal 6, Ritualo 3, Mirza 2, Daa 2, Menor 0, Aquino 0, Se 0.

Quarterscores: 19-18, 45-40, 71-58, 86-80

Second game:

B-Meg 88 – J. Yap 17, Barroca 14, Simon 12, Urbiztondo 10, Pingris 10, Raymundo 10, Yap R. 7, De Vance 5, Reavis 3, De Ocampo 0.

Ginebra 76 – Helterbrand 17, Villanueva 13, Intal 10, Wilson W. 10, Cortez 10, Caguioa 6, Mamaril 4, Canaleta 3, Maierhofer 2, Wilson J. 1, Labgala 0, Tubid 0.

Quarterscores: 24-19, 44-38, 61-55, 88-76