Alaska faced another huge deficit on Sunday night.

And like what the Aces have done tremendously well in the playoffs of the PBA Philippine Cup, they came back just when everyone thought they were done for the night.

The Aces overhauled a 21-point third quarter deficit by going to the lifeblood of their game – defense – as they took a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven title showdown after a 78-70 victory carved out before close to 14,000 animated souls at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Alaska held the mighty Beermen to just six points in the fourth period, using a suffocating defense and some torrid scoring to get back in the game and regain psychological edge in the very physical series.

Those six San Miguel Beer points were the fewest in a quarter in the history of its franchise. It also equaled the second lowest mark all-time in the 40-year history of Asia’s first play-for-pay league.

“I know that you (media) are getting tired of this, but everything starts from our defense,” Alaska coach Alex Compton said. “Our defensive intensity in the fourth quarter was just overwhelming. It was just incredible.

“They were just fantastic defensively.”

Calvin Abueva scored 16 points, had 10 rebounds and five assists, completely outplaying the entire San Miguel team in the fourth period in the battle for the rebounds by plucking down 10 against the Beermen’s collective eight.

The Aces rallied from 40-61 down near the end of the third and from 46-64 down at the start of the fourth quarter, using a 23-7 blitzkrieg that had them taking a 66-65 lead going into the final 4:57.

San Miguel hit just one field goal in the fourth quarter, where it committed six of its 17 turnovers to go down in flames.

Dondon Hontiveros hit two straight triples during the height of that comeback, and Sonny Thoss tossed in eight of his 10 in the fourth as the Aces played with composure just when the chips were down to frustrate the Beermen once again.

Just when the final buzzer was about to sound, Abueva knelt near halfcourt to celebrate the latest come-from-behind caper of the Aces, who have risen from the dead twice in this series already, counting the Game 1 comeback from 22 points down in the first period on Wednesday night.

And while San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria couldn’t say anything after blowing that big a lead in the series opener, he was with answers after this one.

He readily admitted to be the main man responsible for the loss, before practically blaming his players for refusing to follow instructions, especially in the fourth period.

“First of all, this is my full responsibility,” Austria said. “This is all my fault, I wasn’t able to control the game. “All I can do is let them run the game. We were trying to get the ball to June Mar (Fajardo) in the shaded area but it just didn’t get there.

“Inside the court, I cannot control them (players) anymore.”

Austria, though, refused to name the players he was referring to.

And with a two-day break before the pivotal fourth game, Austria will have a lot of time to iron things out.

Game 3 of the series was as physical as the first two, with Abueva busting Arwind Santos up for the second straight night, leaving the 2012 MVP with a nasty gash in the right eyebrow after another elbow.

Abueva didn’t change the way he plays despite being fined earlier in the day for a similar infraction in the second game. The Office of the Commissioner asked him to pay a fine of P15,600 just before the game.

There were a total of P64,600 in fines meted out with Ronald Tubid of San Miguel also being slapped a P13,000 penalty for a flagrant foul 1 on Abueva and for flopping.