MANILA - The Alaska Aces overhauled a 10-point deficit in the final quarter with a barrage of three-pointers to beat the Meralco Bolts, 81-79, Wednesday night in the PBA Philippine Cup. Chris Banchero hit the game-winning three-pointer from the right corner with 4.6 ticks left that capped a 13-2 run by the Aces, who trailed, 77-68, with only 2:43 left. Banchero finished with nine points. JVee Casio and RJ Jazul also nailed one three-pointer each in the last two minutes to complete the come-from-behind win, Alaska's second in four games. The victory sent the Aces into a five-way tie for fifth to ninth place in the standings in the company of Phoenix, TNT, Star and Meralco. San Miguel, GlobalPort and Rain or Shine are tied for first to third place, all with a 3-1 win-loss card while Blackwater is at fourth with a 3-2 record. Vic Manuel was the top scorer and rebounder for Alaska, finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Calvin Abueva added nine points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks, including a crucial one in the final minute that preserved Alaska's lead. Blackwater 96, NLEX 85 The Blackwater Elite took advantage of the NLEX Road Warriors missing three key players to post a 96-85 victory, their third in five outings. With the result, Blackwater finally won over the only team in the PBA it has yet to defeat since its entry into the league in 2014. Before Wednesday's game, Blackwater had lost to NLEX seven times in seven meetings. Sophomore Art dela Cruz led the Elite with 18 points. Kyle Pascual added 16 while Ronjay Buenafe and James Sena chipped in with 13 and 11 markers, respectively. Sensational rookie Mac Belo only had nine points, 10 below his average. Guard John Pinto scored only six points but ruled the paint with a game-high 13 rebounds. NLEX missed the services of its two big frontliners in Asi Taulava and Rico Villanueva and high-scoring guard Garvo Lanete. Villanueva and Lanete were placed on the injured list while Taulava was suffering from persistent migraine, according to team officials. Carlo Lastimosa played against his former team for the first time, top-scoring for NLEX with 23 points. However, he got ejected after committing a second technical foul, with still 2:35 left. Mac Baracael was the only other NLEX player in double figures with 16 markers. Sean Anthony, who led NLEX in its first three games, finished with just eight points. He somehow compensated by grabbing a team-high 11 boards. NLEX never led and only tied the game once at 2-all as Blackwater kept on pouring the points, leading by as many as 15 points, 87-72, with 6:09 left in the game. Games Friday: TNT KaTropa Texters (2-2) vs. Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters (2-2); and Barangay Ginebra Kings (1-2) vs. Mahindra Flood Buster (0-4).
