Alaska to face Coke after surviving Ginebra
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 05/22/2009 10:26 PM
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Alaska survived Barangay Ginebra's fiery run in the final quarter and escaped with a 76-75 victory Friday to force a playoff against Coke for the No. 8 spot in the 2008-09 Motolite-PBA Fiesta Conference.
Willie Miller again came to the rescue for the Aces as he delivered the game-winning basket with 4.7 seconds left as Kings' import David Noel came out empty in the game-tying possession.
The win sent Alaska in a playoff on Sunday against the Tigers for the No. 8 position and also foiled Ginebra's bid for an outright semifinals seat. The Kings will now have to deal with Rain or Shine in another pair of playoff matches for the No. 2 spot.
Miller finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Rosell Ellis and Joe Devance chipped in 16 and 10 markers respectively for coach Tim Cone.
"Nakakuha ng momentum ang Ginebra when they started to hit their shots. Buti na lang hindi kami nag-panic," said Miller.
Trailing 48-66 entering the final canto, the Kings unloaded a mind-boggling 25-6 run to grab the lead for the first time after 11-7 in the first quarter with 3:58 remaining.
Ellis ended the drought with an awkward looking jumper, 74-73, then Rafi Reavis grabbed the lead back for the Kings with two free throws, 75-74, 1:51 left.
After both teams exchanged misses, Miller drove hard to the basket and side-stepped for the game-winner.
Jayjay Helterrand had 18 points for the Kings, whose seven-game winning streak was snapped by the Aces. Noel had a miserable night for Ginebra as he was held to just seven markers on 3-of-15 shooting but he grabbed 21 rebounds.
In the first game, Ronjay Buenafe fired a conference-high 30 points to lift Coca-Cola to a 105-89 win over early semifinalist San Miguel Beer to end its classification phase campaign with a 6-8 win-loss mark.
Asi Taulava also had a huge game for the Tigers with 29 points and 14 rebounds but Coke will still face Alaska in a playoff for the No. 8 spot for the right to meet No. 5 Sta. Lucia Realty in the knockout wildcard match.
Coke, which came from a demoralizing 37-point loss against Ginebra, needed a strong third quarter outburst to put the game away from the Beermen, who entered the game already assured of the top spot in the semis.
"We were more aggressive than what we used to. We were embarrassed last Wednesday and we wanted to bounce back," said Taulava. "We have to step up our game in the playoffs we need to be more aggressive just like what we did (against Beermen)."
Import James Penny had an all-around game for Coke with 24 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 shot blocks.
With Buenafe waxing hot behind the rainbow area, the Tigers pulled away in the final canto and erected their biggest lead at 16 points, 84-68, with 7:58 remaining. Buenafe was 8-of-11 from the three-point area.
Christophe Williams led San Miguel with 24 points while Mick Pennisi chipped in 13. The Beermen ended the classification stage with 11-3 slate.
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