Aces rally from 16 down in 4th, beat Tigers in OT

When Adam Parada scored his first basket of the game early in the first period against the Powerade Tigers, he gave the Alaska Aces a 4-3 lead.

It looked destined to be their only lead of the game. That is, until Parada made his last basket.

Alaska wouldn't taste the lead again until the very last second of overtime, when Parada scored the last two of his 28 points, a follow-up with 0.9 seconds left that gave the Aces a pulsating come-from-behind 102-100 win in the PBA Commissioner's Cup.

In between Parada's first and last field goals, the Aces trailed the Tigers by double digits on several occasions, and were down by 16 with only 5:24 left before launching an improbable comeback to force overtime.

Gary David's triple made it 92-76, and it appeared the Tigers were well on their way to victory and a slot in the quarterfinals. But Powerade wouldn't score another point for the rest of regulation as the Aces went on a 16-0 run thanks to a gamble by Alaska coach Joel Banal that paid off.

"Probably the best time to go small," Banal said. "I went with a small lineup with Wesley at the 4 position. I felt that we can't make stops. They were making all their shots. We were getting tired fighting all their screens, going over and under screens. So we just switched everything. I think playing man-to-man the whole three and a half quarters tired them out a bit. I was trying to shuffle my guards. Even LA was in and out in the end game, and I felt that they were a little bit more tired than us. They had open looks in the fourth quarter, especially in overtime, and they were not making them."

The run began when Sonny Thoss completed a three-point play and Bonbon Custodio went coast-to-coast off a turnover to cut the lead to 92-81 with 4:55 left. After a Powerade miss, Cyrus Baguio hit a short jumper, and then things really started going Alaska's way when Sean Anthony missed two free throws.

Thoss scored again, and Baguio added two more free throws to make it 92-87 with only 3:06 left. Custodio then split his charities. Meanwhile, the Tigers couldn't buy a basket, missing wide-open shots that they would normally make. Parada scored on follow-up to cut the lead to 92-90, before Custodio tied it up with a short baseline jumper with 54 seconds left.

Casio missed a triple — he would go 1-of-8 for the game — and the Aces grabbed the rebound with a chance to take the lead. Parada missed in the lane, and Thoss lost the ball out of bounds with 18 seconds left.

The Tigers milked the clock before Casio drove down the lane after beating LA Tenorio off the dribble. But instead of launching a shot, he dropped it off to Dwayne Jones, who was already moving towards the basket for a possible tip-in and missed the pass. Tenorio grabbed the loose ball and called a timeout with 2.6 seconds left.

Thoss missed a long jumper at the buzzer, and the game was headed into overtime.

Gary David, on his way to a season-high 40 points, scored six of Powerade's eight points in OT, including two free throws that gave the Tigers their last lead at 100-98, although he missed a third free throw that could have made it a three-point lead with 41 seconds left. The Aces missed twice before Cyrus Baguio scored on a third follow-up to tie it up again with less than 20 seconds left.

The Tigers had a chance again to milk the clock, but David couldn't pass up a wide-open three with still seven seconds left. He had bailed out his team several times in the past with big shots such as this, but this time he missed. Tenorio grabbed the rebound and the Aces raced down court with a chance to win it. An unmarked Baguio took a triple but missed, and Parada was at the right place at the right time, getting the offensive board and banking in the game-winner with less than a second left.

The Tigers committed an inbound violation after a timeout, allowing the Aces to complete their remarkable comeback and book themselves a seat in the quarterfinal round with a 5-4 record.

"If we weren't down 16, I wouldn't go to that small lineup," Banal said. "But that was our last chance. I felt like if we can get a couple of threes we can get back in the game. But instead of that, I was surprised Bonbon was still attacking in the end. He still had that energy. Bonbon was excellent tonight."

Custodio scored 19 points, including 10 in the fourth period. His output was matched by Baguio as the two continuously attacked the rim during the Aces' run.

"He's been showing a lot in practice," Banal said of the former UE star. "He's the first man in, last man out in practice. Only a foolish coach would not give the give him the full confidence to play the way he played tonight.

"We were preparing for what we did in the fourth quarter and overtime beginning Monday this week. I was just waiting for that opportunity to use it. It paid off. It was not invented just tonight. We worked on it Monday and Tuesday."

With the loss, the Tigers fell to 4-4 and blew a chance of securing a quarterfinal seat. They must beat B-Meg on Sunday to avoid failing into a multiple and complicated tie for the last few quarterfinal slots.

E-mail: sid_ventura@yahoo.com . Twitter: @Sid_Ventura