MANILA: Up against a depleted foe, Alaska still labored hard and didn’t look convincing enough against a San Miguel Beer crew that played without the most dominant force in the country.

The Aces needed a 9-0 spurt to close out Game 1 and take a 100-91 win over the Beermen in their PBA Philippine Cup title series, barely squeaking past a San Miguel squad that almost turned the tables despite a severe handicap at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday night.

Alaska trailed for most of the night only to force San Miguel to go scoreless in the last 1:56 and take the proverbial headstart in the best-of-seven series for the most prestigious conference staked in the season.

“San Miguel handled us for what, I don’t know how long,” said a relieved Alaska coach, Alex Compton, after enduring hell for more than 46 minutes of the series opener. “Thank goodness we had some stops (in the endgame).

“The boxscores will be deceiving to anyone who didn’t watch the game,” Compton continued as the stats sheet showed that San Miguel had the lead for more than 33 minutes of the contest.

“We just had some guys stepping up late (in the game).”

Vic Manuel, with June Mar Fajardo sitting this one out because of a knee injury, tied his career-high with 24 points, all but 10 of them coming in the final quarter as he led the Aces in the furious fightback from as many as 12 down at the start of the quarter.

Manuel hit a layup after piercing the gut of the San Miguel defense, breaking the last deadlock at 91-all going into the final 1:46 that sent the Aces on their way.

As a credit to the Alaska defense, the Aces forced the Beermen to bad shot selection and a couple of turnovers after that, with their offense taking care of the rest.

JV Casio hit his only triple of the night in the next Alaska offensive that made it 96-91 going into the last 1:12, before Alex Cabagnot took a harried triple try on the other end that led to a Chris Banchero followup that sealed San Miguel’s doom.

Fajardo stayed at home upon the insistence of team officials as the true status of his left knee injury remained a question mark.

San Miguel coach Leo Austria, though, declared that Fajardo does not have an injury as serious as reported, and that their 6-foot-10 franchise player could be ready for the next game.

He, however, said that he won’t force the issue and will continue to sit out the reigning two-time MVP if he is “not 100% healthy.”

“His (Fajardo’s) health is important to me more than anything else,” Austria said as the team missed Fajardo’s averages of 26 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks – and they told heavily in the end.

With Fajardo out of commission, the Beermen were mangled off the boards, 48-28, their rebounding total now standing as the least in PBA Finals history.

Austria also rued not having a dependable man to go to when the going was rough, as his Beermen were forced to take low-percentage attempts.

Cyrus Baguio finished with 16, points, Banchero had 15 and Calvin Abueva had 12 that went with 13 rebounds. Alaska’s bench also outscored its San Miguel counterparts, 71-17, with the likes of Baguio, Manuel and Abueva not starting.

Cabagnot shot 20 points, his last triple with 1:56 to go tying the game up for the final time at 91 with 1:56 to go.

Marcio Lassiter hit 19 markers, Yance De Ocampo, stepping in for Fajardo, had 18 points and Ronald Tubid 13. Gabby Espinas, who also played extended minutes in lieu of Fajardo, had 11 points.

Game 2 is set Tuesday night also at the Big Dome and Compton said that they will prepare as if Fajardo will be playing.

“We want to cover all bases,” Compton said.