Alaska locks up No. 1, San Mig advances in playoffs

Alaska put a lock on No. 1 spot in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup playoffs.
And fittingly enough, the Aces took that distinction by taking down the hottest team in the tournament in the last month.
The Aces survived the loss of a 14-point first half lead, playing steadiest in the stretch to fend off a furious Barangay Ginebra finish for a 102-93 victory and the first twice-to-beat privilege in the quarterfinals at the Araneta Coliseum.
It was the 10th victory in 13 games for the Aces, who sent the Gin Kings back to Mother Earth by snapping a tournament-best six-game winning run and ousting Ginebra in the race for a top two berth.
Robert Dozier scored 11 of his 28 points in the fourth period and got solid local support the whole night, with Cyrus Baguio dropping seven of his 13 markers in the final 12 minutes that helped doom Ginebra to a 7-6 card.
Baguio, playing with back spasms, nailed the go-ahead drive with 4:33 left that shattered the game’s last tie at 86, sending the Aces on their way to their first elimination round pennant since Tim Cone left the squad to join San Mig Coffee two years ago.
Dondon Hontiveros followed up that Baguio caper with a triple, and after a Ginebra turnover, rookie Calvin Abueva hit a short stab off a JV Casio pass before Dozier completed a three-point play off Mac Baracael that made it 96-86 going into the final 58.3 seconds.
Alaska thus swept its elimination round series with the Kings, having beaten Ginebra by 15 points in Tubod, Lanao del Norte, where it played with Vernon Macklin for the first time.
Macklin carried the Kings in the second half together with starting point guard and former Alaska stalwart LA Tenorio as the duo combined for 20 points in the third and 11 in the fourth.
Ginebra easily wiped out a 55-41 deficit at the half by opening up the third period with a 16-0 tear, forging ahead, 57-55 after a Tenorio layup with less than five minutes gone in the period.
Dozier then hit a running jumper to snap a cold Alaska spell with 6:59 remaining, and things normalized from there on for the Aces, who regrouped somewhat to take the third leading by a deuce.
The last time Ginebra was in the lead was at 82-81 after Baracael connected on a three-pointer from left quarter court.
Ginebra again played without team leader Mark Caguioa and the Kings would need to win over Talk ‘N Text on Sunday to qualify in the upper half of the playoff bracket and enter a best-of-three series in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, San Mig Coffee, the defending champion here, held Air21 to just 45 points in the first three periods to prevail easily, 80-66, and formalize its advance to the playoffs after rising to 7-6.
Denzel Bowles scored 29 points and had 16 rebounds, and Marc Pingris was the second man with a double-double for Cone with 14 points and 14 boards as the Mixers played with complete command all throughout.
Nino Canaleta led the Express with 26 as import Michael Dunigan was hounded all night by the effective San Mig defense on the way to 18 markers.
Air21 dropped to 5-8 and would need to win against Petron on Saturday to clinch No. 8 spot and shut the door on idle Barako Bull.