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Willie
Miller and Mike Cortez certainly know when to strike.
And when right moment came,
Alaska’s veteran backcourt duo delivered the knockout punch.
In a
game that featured tough defense from both sides, the
Aces summoned their playoff experience in the second
half to subdue the Coca-Cola Tigers, 89-82, in Game One
of their quarterfinal series at the Cuneta Astrodome.
“It was
a tough game to get rid of. It was a defensive battle
out there. It was hard to get open shots and good looks
at the baskets for either team. But it kind of went the
way we had hoped it would,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone,
who did a terrific job in shuffling his bench.
The Aces
seized control late in the third quarter largely on
Cortez’s (11 points, three assists and one steal)
splendid playmaking and decisiveness. He capped his
third-quarter effort by scoring five big points during a
telling 9-1 run as the Aces ended the period with a
69-64 lead and never relinquished it the rest of the
way.
But the
ninth-seeded Tigers, extremely confident about their
unexpected domination in the wild card, couldn’t find
the answers to Cortez’s and Miller’s explosions.
Miller,
the two-time Most Valuable Player, finished with a
game-high 23 points, including a lay-up and a
three-pointer in the final 1:34 that broke the spines of
the Tigers. He also had seven assists and two steals for
the Aces, who outscored the Tigers, 48-34, in the second
half.
Alaska
can advance to the semifinals of the 2007-08 Smart
Philippine Basketball Association-Philippine Cup with
another victory in Game Two scheduled at 7:20 p.m.
tomorrow, also at the Astrodome.
“We knew
we had to battle them early on. And by the fourth
quarter, they [Tigers] started wearing down. So we just
kept pushing and pushing at them hoping the tide would
turn to our favor. Eventually it did. Asi [Taulava]
started to cramp, Mark [Telan] got tired and they just
lost their bounce a bit,” Cone observed.
Alaska’s
fourth consecutive win snapped Coca-Cola’s improbable
three-game winning run en route to the playoffs and
spoiled another incredible effort by Taulava.
The
six-foot-10 center tallied 22 points and cornered 25
rebounds for his 15th double-double of the conference
and second 20-20 game.
But
playing 41 minutes took its toll on Coke’s Big Fellow,
who experienced leg cramps in the final
2:07 with the Tigers down, 81-85.
Telan,
the other half of Coke’s mean machine, managed just 13
points and showed signs of fatigue in the fourth
quarter, his energy visibly zapped by playing four games
in eight nights.
“We
might have won Game One but this series is certainly no
slam dunk for us. Coke is so good and dangerous when
their backs are against the wall. So we got to be ready
on Friday,” Cone said.
Coke’s
winning streak appeared to continue when the Tigers
posted a 40-31 lead midway in the second quarter.
And
although the Aces manage to tie the score twice in the
third quarter, the Tigers would come up with big baskets
to regain the lead.
But they
would eventually run of gas late in the third as the
well-rested Aces kept pushing the ball on every
possession and contest every Tigers’ shot.
Alaska
also got big contribution from Reynel Hugnatan (17
points, 10 rebounds), John Ferriols (11 points, eight
rebounds), Jeffrey Cariaso (10 points) and Sonny Thoss
(11 rebounds). |
