Compton on do-or-die win: "I felt like it was our day"

Alex Compton was happy to see his team putting up an impressive win in an elimination game. PBA Media Bureau

By Ivan Saldajeno

ANTIPOLO--Facing elimination, Alaska put up a win as if it was going for the kill.

The Aces blasted the San Miguel Beermen 125-104, at the Ynares Center in Game 3 of the PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals on Friday night.

[Related Story: Alaska hammers SMB, extends semis series]

Alaska went 51-of-103 from the field, assisting on 30 of them, for 49.5 percent against the 37-of-82 clip by San Miguel.

The Aces also outrebounded the Beermen, 55-46, with the advantage credited to the 21-13 discrepancy in the offensive end that was then made into a 33-16 edge in second chance points.

"I just kinda felt like [it was] our day. We made a bunch of shots," said Coach Alex Compton during the post-game press conference.

The Aces also took advantage of the Beermen's errors, converting 20 turnovers into 25 points off them.

"We gotta play great defense against San Miguel, and I thought we played great tonight," Compton commented on Alaska's lockdown defense.

But the most glaring of the stats was the bench points, in which the Aces put up 71 compared to the Beermen's 32, most of which coming in garbage time when the outcome was all but settled.

Vic Manuel, who has been playing so-so during the series, led the charge for Alaska's shock troopers by achieving his best game of the semifinal round, making 24 points, six rebounds, one assists, and three steals.

Compton, however, made special mentions of Abel Galliguez and Jake Pascual, who were seldom used this series.

"I felt like today was a total team effort. I mean guys like Abel Galliguez come off the bench to give us energy. Jake Pascual hasn't played this series. He comes in. He gives us great energy. I was really impressed," Compton commended.

He further uttered praises to his team, saying, "I kinda love my guys. They don't give up. We're down 2-0 against the best team in the league. There's every possibility to give up, and they didn't. Yung hiniling ko sa kanila: 'Lalaban tayo hanggang sa huli.' Lumaban sila. I'm just really really proud of my guys. Sabi nila, 'We live to fight another game.'"

However, Alaska remains at the brink of ouster, and on Sunday night, the team needs to play once again like how it did to force a rubber match on Tuesday night.

"I hope that we have a number of those days," Compton further said.

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