Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — The Alaska Aces foiled a last-ditch Barangay Ginebra rally to hack out a 92-81 victory Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the PBA Governors' Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. The Aces thus barged into the semifinals of a PBA tournament for the first time since they won the Commissioner's Cup last season. Alaska will go up against Rain or Shine in a best-of-five series that begins Friday night. Seeking to avenge their elimination round defeat to the Aces, the Kings started hot as they raced to a 9-0 lead. They were still on top, 21-14, early in the second quarter when disaster struck. Import Zach Mason fell hard on the floor while trying to get past Alaska's Nic Belasco on a drive. The explosive import had to be taken out, with doctors fearing an ACL tear on his right knee. Mason's injury proved to be the turning point in the game as the Aces took advantage of an import-less Ginebra to grab the lead, 39-33, after a 25-12 run. Ginebra coach Jeffrey Cariaso put Mason back on the floor to start the third quarter but was quickly taken out again for good as he was clearly unable to play. The Aces kept exploiting the handicap as they opened up their biggest lead, 54-38, midway in the third quarter. Playing all-Filipino, the Kings valiantly fought back and came to within four points, 81-77, with about four minutes left in the game. But JVee Casio answered with a shotclock-beating three-pointer to push the Kings back with 3:11 left. After the Kings failed to score, the Aces buried the final dagger in Ginebra's heart with a cold-blooded three-pointer from Dondon Hontiveros that pushed their lead to 87-77 with 2:27 left as they coasted to victory. Six players scored in double digits for Alaska led by the 15 points of Casio, who converted 3-of-5 three-point shots. Gabby Espinas, Hontiveros, Calvin Abueva and Vic Manuel scored 12 points apiece while Sonny Thoss added 11 points. Alaska won despite a bad shooting night for its import, Henry Walker, who scored only seven points on an icy 2-of-16 shooting from the field. However, the former NBA player also played a substantial role in Alaska's victory with his 10 rebounds and a team-high six assists. Japeth Aguilar led Ginebra with 18 points and seven rebounds, while rookie center Greg Slaughter had 16 points and 16 boards. Mac Baracael and Dylan Ababou each added 10 points and four rebounds. Alaska shot a scorching 37-of-80 (46 percent) from the field while limiting Ginebra to a mediocre 25-of-71 (35 percent) shooting. The victory by the third-seeded Aces completed a sweep by the Top4 twice-to-beat teams in the quarterfinals. On Tuesday, top seed Talk N Text pushed out Barako Bull (eighth seed) while the Grand Slam-seeking fourth seed San Mig Super Coffee vanquished San Miguel Beer (fifth seed). Rain or Shine 111, Air21 90 The second-seeded Rain or Shine Elasto Painters shot the lights out of the coliseum, burying the seventh-seed Air21 Express, 111-90, to barge into the semifinals against Alaska. The Painters shot a dizzying 55.7 percent from the field, drilling 14 three-pointers, en route to their sixth straight win in the conference. The surprisingly easy win avenged the Painters' loss to the Express in the elimination round. Former Best Import Arizona Reid led Rain or Shine with 30 points, including a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the three-point arc. Reid scored 12 of the Painters' first 30 points as they raced to a 21-6 lead, firing away from all angles all night long and giving the Express no opening for a rally. Paul Lee added 14 points, Larry Rodriguez had 12 while Ryan Arana chipped in with 11. Air21, which is reportedly being bought by incoming expansion team NLEX, was led by import Dominique Sutton who had 35 points and 18 rebounds. Rookie Eliud Poligrates scored 18 points, while Aldrech Ramos added 16. Game Thursday: San Mig vs Talk ‘N Text (Game 1, semifinals).
