Finally, Alaska flaunted the form – and the grit – that made the Aces win the PBA Commissioner’s Cup last season.

Holding powerhouse San Miguel Beer scoreless inside the final 4:18, the Aces on Saturday night walloped the Beermen, 89-78, to get back in the upper half of the standings and enhance their chances of advancing to the playoffs.

Before a stunned crowd at the Alonte Sports Center here, the Aces closed out with a 13-0 run, easily erasing a 76-78 deficit to win back-to-back games for the first time this season and rise to 3-3, now tied for fourth spot.

San Miguel, the second hottest team in the tournament after the undefeated Talk ’N Text Tropang Texters, dropped to 5-2, losing for the second time with Kevin Jones as an import.

Jones, the much-ballyhooed reinforcement who came in for National Basketball Association veteran Josh Boone, was good for only 11 points as the Alaska defense clamped down on him hard the whole night.

And while Jones struggled for the Beermen, Rob Dozier also showed why he won the Best Import award last season, leading the Aces with 20 points and 20 rebounds while putting the cuffs on Jones.

There were four other players in twin digits for the Aces, with Cyrus Baguio adding 15 and JV Casio finishing with 14, including the go-ahead triple with 3:30 remaining that gave Alaska a 79-78 lead.

Things went sour for the Beermen after Sol Mercado had given them that two-point edge off a left-handed layup, as two crucial errors and three straight missed attempts did San Miguel in.

Dozier went 10-for-10 from the free throw line, with his last pair of charities coming with 2:27 left that stretched that one-point lead.

After that, Baguio drained a triple with 2:07 left for an 84-78 lead which put San Miguel in total disarray even with Todd Purves, the Beermen’s active consultant, calling for two timeouts.

With the win, the Aces put themselves in a good position of not only advancing to the playoffs, but also the chance to qualify in the top half and get a fair assignment in the quarterfinals.

Tournament format calls for Nos. 1 and 2 to earn twice-to-beat privileges against Nos. 8 and 7, respectively with Nos. 3 and 4 clashing with Nos. 6 and 5, respectively, in best-of-three series for slots to the Final Four.

Only two teams will get the boot and qualifying as Nos. 7 and 8 certainly is not an appealing development since they would need to win two straight games against the best teams in the eliminations to advance.

Meanwhile, action takes a break Sunday and will resume on Monday with Talk ’N Text, because of the San Miguel loss, clashing with San Mig Coffee for possibly top ranking.

The Texters are at 6-0 and will be coming off a nine-day break, while the Mixers are still smarting from their first loss of the conference.

A win by Talk ’N Text would put the Mixers, now at 3-1, at least three games out of the lead and with San Miguel being at 5-2 after also being beaten by TNT, would not have a chance to gain No. 1 because of the winner-over-the-other rule.

Rain or Shine, another powerhouse squad that is struggling, will battle Globalport in the other game scheduled at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao with the Elasto Painters seeking no less than a win to be in the same boat at Alaska.

Globalport is at 0-6 and another defeat would virtually write off the Batang Pier here.