Aces unleash the Beast on Coffee Mixers, grab 2-1 lead

Alaska has a foot in the door to the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals, thanks to a much-needed helping hand from Calvin Abueva.

With the 6-foot-2 super rookie providing the spark, the Aces wiped out a 16-point third-quarter deficit then outlasted defending champion San Mig Coffee in overtime, 89-8, to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five semifinals series in front of an overflow Smart-Araneta Coliseum crowd.

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The second overall pick in last year’s rookie draft, Abueva played with reckless abandon in a big second-half turnaround for the Aces, racking up 15 of his game-high 24 points on top of 10 rebounds, three assists and a block in a highly-efficient outing.

Four other players chipped in 11 markers each for the Aces, who also got a big six-point contribution in overtime from reserve guard RJ Jazul to complete the thrilling victory.

The Mixers, led by Denzel Bowles’ 19 points, enjoyed a 54-38 lead but ran out of gas in the crunch against the Aces’ unrelenting charge.

Alaska can completely dethrone San Mig Coffee with another victory on Game 4 this Saturday.

The Main Man: Definitely, “The Beast” was unleashed for the Aces in the second half.

Virtually absent in the opening half, Abueva made his presence felt in the third quarter, scoring 11 big points while helping Alaska get back from an inconsiderable 38-54 deficit.

Aside from providing the goods, the former San Sebastian star psyched out San Mig Coffee anew with his swagger and smarts, figuring in several intense clashes with Mixers import Denzel Bowles and forward Joe Devance.

As if those weren’t enough, Abueva sealed the deal in style, throwing down a jam before bowing in delight before the relatively pro-Mixers crowd.
 
Honorable Mention: RJ Jazul has completed his transformation from being the goat to an unlikely hero.

After bungling a point-blank shot that could have given the Aces the win in regulation, the former Letran standout redeemed himself in the extra period, first completing a three-point play before drilling a triple that gave them a big 86-80 cushion.

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Jazul, a known outside gunner, also did his part defensively, shadowing counterparts Mark Barroca and PJ Simon in an efficient outing in overtime.
 
Game Turning Point: Instead of fretting about his sorry miss just when the final buzzer sounded in regulation, Jazul emerged doubly motivated, setting the tone for the Aces in overtime by racking up six points for an 86-80 cushion.

After PJ Simon cut San Mig’s deficit within four, Alaska showed its poise under duress and repeatedly crashed the board until import Rober Dozier split his charities for a five-point cushion with 2:02 to go.

Locked down defensively, Cyrus Baguio blocked James Yap’s three-point try that led to Abueva’s breakaway dunk, putting an emphatic finish to the Aces’ victory with 36.7 seconds to play.
 
 
Quotable Quotes:
"Go hard lang talaga ako sa depensa at tumutulong rin sa depensa. Maganda rin naman ang naging performance ko," stated Abueva.

“I thought we didn’t do a good job in the first half. In the second half, we were down and I’m glad the guys responded. It’s one of those games when nobody wanted to give in. There were heroes on one side and also on the other.

We can’t get too excited. 2-1 is still nothing and we're one win to go. Calvin was great. We needed to do a better job on rotations and that's what we did. RJ's been great and he stepped up. He was huge. I think collectively there’s really no star in or team. We’re happy we got this one but we cannot celebrate,” said Alaska coach Luigi Trillo.

“We lost it in overtime. We lost our focus, they dominated us in the overtime. They did a good job in hanging around and they stole it from us,” lamented San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone.
 

ALASKA (89) – Abueva 24, Baguio 13, Casio 12, Dozier 11, Thoss 11, Jazul 6, Belasco 5, Hontiveros 3, Espinas 2, Dela Cruz 2.

SAN MIG COFFEE (82) – Bowles 19, Barroca 15, Pingris 15, Mallari 7, Devance 7, Yap 7, Simon 6, Najorda 2, Reavis 2, De Ocampo 2.
Quarterscores: 13-19, 32-45, 54-59, 80-80, 89-82