MANILA: From the way things looked for the second straight game, it seems quite likely that Alaska has finally solved the puzzle that is Terrence Romeo and the high-octane GlobalPort offense.

The Aces held the Batang Pier to 26 first half points and broke away in the fourth period to score an 82-69 victory Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay for a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven Final Four series in the PBA Philippine Cup.

“It was a huge defensive effort from us, it’s not easy guarding those guys,” Alaska coach Alex Compton said after giving up just 17 points to Romeo and holding his support cast to harmless numbers the entire night.

“Other than (today’s) third quarter, our defensive energy has been there,” added Compton, referring to a 27-point explosion by the Batang Pier in the third that allowed GlobalPort to forge a 53-all tie going into the fourth period.

“But this series is not over by any means, we still have a lot to do and it’s very difficult to shut them down,” continued Compton, who lost to San Miguel Beer in the Finals here last season.

Vic Manuel and RJ Jazul came off the bench to shoot 16 and 12 points, respectively and pace the Aces, with Jazul, apart from his point production, also the one who was able to take Romeo out of the game for good with 6:37 left.

After drilling the Aces with a career-high 41 points in a 107-93 Game 1 win, Romeo was held scoreless in the fourth after being ejected for picking up a second technical foul for a second motion on Jazul.

That play was the most critical of the contest as no one was able to fill the slack for the Batang Pier.

Stanley Pringle, the former Rookie of the Year who is also a heavy scorer, finished with just 12 points but couldn’t get into twin digits until very late in the contest and all but the final score left to be determined.

GlobalPort, after that impressive series-opening win, has now been held down to a combined 145 points in the last two games, a testament to how the Alaska defense has done its job in the last two contests.

Romeo, too, has also been cuffed.

The 5-foot-11 gunslinger has been scoreless in the last two fourth quarters of the series and was only able to put up an average of 18.5 points in the last two games for the Batang Pier.

In Game 2, Romeo was held to just two points in the final half after erupting for 18 in the first two quarters.

Despite their impressive defensive effort for two games now, Compton still refuses to throw down his guard.

“We’re up one game against arguably the most explosive team in the league, and we will not be content,” Compton said. “We’re not there (in the Finals) yet.”

Chris Banchero and JV Casio, point guards both, chipped in 10 apiece for the Aces and completed domination of their counterparts Romeo and Pringle for the second straight night.

Doug Kramer had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Batang Pier but was scoreless in the second half.

Meanwhile, the defending champion Beermen and Rain or Shine break their 1-1 tie in their half of the Final Four at 5 p.m. Saturday as action returns to the fabled Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

The Elasto Painters are slightly tipped to score a second straight win over San Miguel considering how in control they have been for the last two games.

Rain or Shine led by as large as 22 in Game 1 only to go down in flames with a 14-point fourth quarter, losing 109-105. They rebounded mightily in the second game by leading by as large as 25 and putting the Beermen away eventually.

June Mar Fajardo, who scored 38 points and had 17 rebounds but missed five straight free throws in the fourth at the height of a San Miguel rally because of fatigue, is expected to again play a huge chunk of the minutes for the Beermen.

Paul Lee will be seeing action for the third straight game and could be nearing 100% form for Rain or Shine.