MANILA, Philippines – The Alaska Aces squandered a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter but were able to escape with another win thanks to a big shot by RJ Jazul against the Meralco Bolts, 88-86, on Thursday, December 3, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Thanks to a game-changing 16-0 run, Alaska turned a 6-point deficit into a 73-63 lead with 5:52 remaining but played loose the rest of the way, giving the Bolts the chance to lock the contest at 81-all with 56 seconds to go.
Jazul then hit a huge 3-ball and made a free throw that created some necessary separation, paving the way for Alaska to hold on for the victory.
“I guess in our league you’ll take any win you can get,” Alaska head coach Alex Compton said after seeing his team nearly give the game up.
“I’m happy to win, and much respect to Meralco,” Compton also said. "I think [Bolts] Coach Norman (Black) had a great gameplan his guys were playing.”
Jazul finished with 11 points, 9 coming in the fourth period. There were 5 other Aces who registered double-figures, led by Chris Banchero and Vic Manuel who had 13 points each and combined for 16 boards.
JVee Casio posted 12 points, while Dondon Hontiveros and Sonny Thoss had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Alaska shot 40% but turned the ball over 22 times. In what’s an uncommon sighting, the Aces bench were outscored, 63-53.
“We aspire to excellence. You’re not always excellent. I think we got to be better than we showed tonight,” said Compton, whose team improved to 7-1, tying San Miguel atop the league standings.
Meralco, now 1-8 and losers of 3 straight, was led by the 25 points – 16 in the final period – and 13 boards of Cliff Hodge, who hit the big triple that tied the game late.
Jared Dillinger finished with 15 points, while Jimmy Alapag missed all 6 of his attempts but went a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line and distributed 8 assists.
In the process, Alapag tied former PBA player Willie Generalao for fifth in the all-time assists leaders of the league.
The Bolts shot 38% from the field although hit just 3-of-22 from downtown.
Nonetheless, they were still in position to win after going down by 10 thanks to Hodge and timely free throws.
After an 11-0 run by Alapag and Hodge trimmed the Alaska lead to 78-74 with 2:36 to go, Thoss nailed a jumper to temporarily stop the bleeding. However, Alapag was fouled on the next two possessions, leading to 4 easy points for the Bolts, 80-78.
After Chris Banchero split a visit to the foul line, Hodge nailed the tying 3-pointer, which was countered by a 3-ball from Jazul off a pump fake and step-back, 84-81.
With 25 seconds left, Dillinger converted a fadeaway. On the next Alaska play, Jazul was fouled and split his charities, making it an 85-83 game.
Gary David, who finished with just 4 points on 2-of-10 shooting, then missed a jumper that was rebounded by Hodge but deemed a turnover since he was out of bounds.
Banchero was then fouled and split his free throws, but he was able to rebound his miss on the second attempt. Meralco had no choice but to foul Jazul, who nailed both charities to seal the victory.
“They almost took that game from us. I thought they did a great job. I thought we were not as good as we need to be,” said Compton.
Scores:
Alaska (88): Banchero 13, Manuel 13, Casio 12, Hontiveros 11, Jazul 11, Baguio 9, Abueva 4, Menk 4, Baclao 1, Dela Cruz 0, Exciminiano 0.
Meralco (86): Hodge 25, Dillinger 15, Al-Hussaini 10, Buenafe 9, Alapag 8, David 4, Hugnatan 4, Nabong 4, Newsome 4, Ferriols 2, Amer 1, Faundo 0.
Quarter scores: 21-24, 42-37, 54-55, 88-86 – Rappler.com