Bouncing back from an ugly loss with a performance to remember, the Aces on Friday night were at their best and nipped San Miguel, 90-83, for a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven series for the PBA Fiesta Conference crown.

Alaska dropped a 16-5 bomb in a crippling stretch in the fourth period to rip apart a game that hung in the balance for most of the night at the Cuneta Astrodome and move within another triumph of winning its 13th league championship.

LA Tenorio, the smallest man on the floor, again tormented the Beermen with 21 points, 10 rebounds and unrivalled quarterbacking as the Aces are now on the verge of claiming another powerhouse scalp and complete a Cinderella tournament.

And what made it doubly special was that Alaska came into the game fresh from a whipping it had never experienced in these playoffs, when the Beermen tore the Aces apart in Game 3 on Wednesday to make it a series once more.

"It was one of the toughest games I was involved in," said Alaska coach Tim Cone. "That was intense. But we're confident coming in. We know how to respond from bad losses, and we did that today." Alaska's defense also worked and held the usual high scorers for San Miguel to minimal numbers, with Best Player of the Conference Jay Washington the most notable non-performer for the Beermen.

Washington was held to just five points on a horrendous 2-for-12 shooting from the field and Dondon Hontiveros to a single basket that helped put San Miguel into a side of its franchise history it doesn't want to be in.

"Can we wrap it up on Sunday? The opportunity is there and we obviously will go for it," Cone said, not waiting for reporters to ask him the question on when he thinks his Aces will be able to close this series out.

"I hope that tomorrow's (Saturday's) practice will be our last (for the season)." Diamon Simpson did not score as heavily but the Alaska import had complete control of the lanes and bothered every San Miguel shot inside the paint. He finished with 14 points and 18 rebounds.

Only one team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in a championship series to win, and that squad is not San Miguel, but sister team Ginebra, which pulled off the trick against Shell in the 1991 Reinforced Conference Finals.

And sadly for San Miguel, the four times it trailed 0-2 in a best-of-seven - three of them in the Finals - the Beermen went on to lose each time.

Cyrus Baguio scattered 15 markers for the Aces, who will gun for the clincher Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

"We felt that we really have to raise the level of our game to be able to play at their level," said Cone. "We were able to do that, make key plays here and there and pull off the win." Gabe Freeman, the surprise winner of the Best Import award over Simpson, led San Miguel with 28 points and 17 rebounds, giving it his all and staying away from foul trouble.

His efforts, though, fell short without the help from the usual contributors.

San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen, though, is not one who would readily give up.

"I don't think it's over," said Tanquingcen. "Yes, were down 3-1, but I look at this as an opportunity God gave us to show our true character," Tanquingcen, whose job has reportedly been in trouble since the elimination round, said.

"It's not an ideal situation, but I know that we're playing for something here."