MANILA: Alaska was so good on a night Tropang TNT couldn’t do anything right, as the Aces dethroned the Texters as PBA Commissioner’s Cup champs in a one-sided manner no one saw coming.

The Aces put on their skates in the second period and left the Texters eating their dust, scoring a 99-81 victory for a 2-1 series win that shoved Alaska into yet another Final Four appearance at the Araneta Coliseum on Friday night.

Calvin Abueva was again the pain in the neck that the Texters never got to solve, coming off the bench to shoot 18 points and provide all the energy that the Aces needed in crushing the enemy to remain on track towards another title series stint.

“I didn’t expect the game to go the way it did,” Alaska coach Alex Compton told reporters as his Aces practically went on cruise control after taking a 53-37 lead at the end of the first half. “I am just so proud of my players.”

Alaska pulled out the impressive victory even with power forward Vic Manuel sitting it out and starting point guard JV Casio continuing to be on the injured list.

“I know the brain power of those TNT coaches in making adjustments,” Compton said, wary that he could have shown his cards to Jong Uichico and his staff after taking an 85-81 Game 2 victory.

Compton had wished last Tuesday for his team to again hold the talented Texters to just 81 points, the way they did in the second game.

He got what he wanted.

“As a coach, nothing is ever perfect,” Compton said. “But there’s nothing more I can ask for.”

The win advanced the Aces against tournament No. 2 Meralco, their best-of-five series set to start on Monday as Alaska, even after qualifying third, is labeled as the favorite owing to a deeper bench and vast playoff experience.

San Miguel Beer, the tournament top seed, and No. 5 Rain or Shine will be disputing the other title series slot with Game 1 to tip-off Sunday also at the fabled Big Dome floor in Cubao.

The Beermen went through the proverbial eye of the needle before taking out No. 8 Star in the rubber match of their series, while the Elasto Painters sealed another early exit for Tim Cone and the popular Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings on Wednesday with a sweep of their best-of-three series.

Alaska scored 32 points – double the TNT total – in the second period and easily peeled away from a 21-all game.

The Aces played defense with a lot of passion even while holding commanding leads and never allowed the Texters to get back in the groove, with Jason Castro and Ranidel de Ocampo – TNT’s top guns – struggling all night on the way to just 14 combined points.

Rob Dozier fired 20 points and had 14 rebounds and former MVP Eric Menk turned in a worthy game in place of Manuel by accounting for 10.

David Simon scored 20 points and had 13 rebounds, but had a night-high seven turnovers to highlight his struggles. Larry Fonacier accounted for 19, his best game in a while, with rookie Troy Rosario shooting 13.

The win also left Abueva as the only member of the Top 5 in the statistical points race for the Best Player of the Conference award left playing, opening the door for just the second big individual honor for the former San Sebastian ace who was the Rookie of the Year four seasons ago.

Greg Slaughter of Barangay Ginebra was the leader in the SP race. Castro was also in the top five.