MANILA, 7 June 2007 — Tim Cone said last night’s game reminded him so much of his classic battles with Robert Jaworski and Ginebra.
Only this time, it was Alaska which fought hard all night and came from behind.
The Aces bounced back from a 17-point second quarter deficit with their own kind of resiliency, pounding out a 105-99 win over the Gin Kings that put them in the semifinals of the PBA Fiesta Cup.
Rosell Ellis worked himself to death, shooting 33 points and doing a lot of the intangibles that kept the Aces in the thick of the fight before comebacking Mike Cortez hit two crucial triples in the stretch.
Cortez went on to finish with 13 points, his return from knee surgery now almost complete after he hit those treys inside the final 1:48 that allowed the Aces to win with plenty to spare.
It was the third win in as many meetings for the Aces over the Kings in this tournament, and one very few expected especially after Ginebra had opened up a 50-33 lead in the second behind some torrid outside shooting.
“This (game) reminds me of the old days against Sonny’s (Jaworski’s) team,” Cone said. “It was a sweet victory no doubt, because it put us in the semifinals and it came in such a great manner.” Alaska never gave up, finally easing out in front after a Willie Miller triple with 3:32 left gave the Aces the lead for the first time since 2-0.
And Ginebra did not immediately crack, with Nealy scoring on a triple of his own a few plays later for 95-93 before Cortez put the Aces ahead to stay with the first of those treys.
Ellis then finished a fastbreak made possible by a Cortez steal with a two-handed dunk and Nealy missed a short stab in the next Ginebra play which Cortez capitalized on by hitting another attempt from way out for 101-95 with 46.1 left.
This is the first time in six conferences that the Aces are in the semifinals automatically and the first time since 2002 in an import-flavored tournament that Alaska earned such a finish.
In nailing the No. 2 with the win, Alaska will get a rest of at least three weeks as the others in the lower half of the standings try to knock each other out.
“This doesn’t guarantee us anything other than we are in the semis,” Cone said. “We need to stay sharp and I think that’s the most crucial aspect of getting here.” Nealy went on to finish with 34 points but was effectively silenced when the Aces came charging back like crazy. He also had 20 rebounds and five assists.
Air21 nipped a sputtering San Miguel side, 103-99, in the first game to make the quarterfinals outright and put the Beermen in the wildcard phase.
Arwind Santos, the Express’ version of a super rookie, tossed in 10 of his team-high 23 points in the final frame and Shawn Daniels was his usual double-double self in leading Air21.
“Even when we were losing a few games (near the end of the eliminations), I told the players that this was already an improvement,” said coach Bo Perasol, who made it past the wildcard for the first time in five conferences with the Express.
Air21 suffered a string of five straight setbacks near the end of the eliminations to finish at 10-8 and fall into this playoff with San Miguel.
Curiously, the Express managed to barge into the quarterfinals without their top local gun, Gary David, who will be out at least for four months after tearing his right ACL last week. “Definitely, he is a big loss, especially now that we are in the quarterfinals,” Perasol added.
For winning, the Express bagged the No. 5 seed and will be paired with the Talk ‘N Text Phone Pals in the best-of-three quarterfinals. San Miguel, which dropped to No. 6, will now collide with No. 9 Sta. Lucia and No. 8 Purefoods slugs it out with No. 7 Coca-Cola in a pair of KO matches tomorrow.
The winners in those pairings then advance opposite each other for the only quarterfinal slot left.
Defending champion Red Bull made the semifinals ahead of everyone else with a 13-5 card capped by a high-wire 105-103 victory over the Tigers, their first game since trading Enrico Villanueva to San Miguel.
