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| Chris Banchero provided back-up with 19 points in Alaska's win on Saturday. Franchesca Nicole Collantes/ Dugout Philippines |
By Ricky Manliguis
QUEZON
CITY—Alaska rode on a second half assault to trounce Global Port, 109-103, for
its fifth straight win in Saturday’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup action at the Smart
Araneta Coliseum.
Behind
yet another steady performance by Vic manuel plus the inspired Chris Banchero,
the Aces battled back from a 15-point deficit to boost its record to 5-1 and a
share of the lead in the mid-season conference with Rain or Shine, who are
playing the Magnolia Hotshots as of this writing.
After
trailing for most of the match, the Aces went down to work in the second half,
as Manuel instigated a 16-7 third-quarter salvo that turned a 69-76 deficit
into an 85-83 lead heading into the final canto.
The
6-foot-4 slotman continued his brilliant touch, and his back-to-back corner
jumpers gave Alaska a 105-93 advantage with 2:48 left that virtually sealed the
deal.
Global
Port had one last fightback, pulling to within 103-107 on Sean Anthony's triple
49.5 seconds remaining but still fell short in the end.
Manuel
finished with 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting while grabbing two rebounds off the
bench. Chris Banchero added 19 with seven boards and five assists despite
playing with a grieving heart following the death of his best friend
yesterday.
Antonio
Campbell churned out a quiet 18 points and 18 rebounds while JVee Casio and
Kevin Racal had 12 and 10 respectively.
“I love the grit and I expected that we needed it this game,
Globalport is one of the grittiest teams in the league, the guys in that team
are physical and they play hard,” said winning coach Alex Compton.
The
Aces played minus the services of star Calvin Abueva, who has not practiced
with the team for three days due to "personal
reasons" according to Compton.
"He (Abueva) didn’t show up to practice since the
All-Star break. We’ve been reaching out to him. We’re not sure where he is. We
know people that are with him so he’s safe. Calvin has been going through some
personal issues and I will leave it at that," he said.
It was a sorry loss for the Batang Pier, who once has the
largest lead at 54-39 midway into the second quarter to fall to a 3-4 card.
Malcolm White and Stanley Pringle had 27 and 26 points in that order.
The
scores:
Alaska
109 - Manuel 22, Banchero 19, Campbell 18, Casio 12, Racal 10, Thoss
8, Teng 8, Enciso 6, Exciminiano 3, Magat 3.
GlobalPort
103 - White 27, Pringle 26, Anthony 16, Nabong 12, Javelona 7, Grey 6, Tautuaa
5, Elorde 4, Sargent 0, Teng 0, Araña 0.
Quarterscores:
20-29; 50-59; 85-83; 109-103.
Follow him on Twitter: @Teaching_Hero
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