Some things come to an end.
The surging Alaska Aces have finally ended their six-game losing skid to the the Yeng Guiao-mentoredNLEX Road Warriors on Friday night as they survived a major scare by the Road Warriors, 120-111, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
This is the first win of Alaska over NLEX since the latter named Guiao as their head coach before the 2015-2016 season. Their two previous losses came in the 2018 Philippine Cup quarterfinals, where they got swept in two games.
The Aces are now the hottest team in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup as they have extended their winning streak to seven to go 7-1. Alaska has also gained a share of the top spot of the team standings with Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Import Antonio Campbell led the Milkmen with 28 points and eight rebounds. But the locals shone bright once more in the win, with Vic Manuel producing 22 points — his seventh straight 20-point game — with 11 boards.
The Aces started strong in the tiff and even led by as much as 18 in the second frame. But, the Road Warriors changed things up in the third, chopping down tbe deficit to eventually lead by five, 93-88, with 10:27 to go in the final frame.
That then set up a tight affair between both teams, which saw three lead changes inside 57 seconds.
Alaska though proved to be the much better closer later on. As NLEX inched close, 106-108, the Milkmen responded with a 12-2 run to post a 120-108 lead with 1:02 left to play to put the Road Warriors away for good.
“We’re just fortunate to make plays at the end,” said Alaska head coach Alex Compton. “The fact that we made shots we made shots really mattered. I wasn’t happy with our defense but credit to Coach Yeng [Guiao] and their team.”
“They made shots and they made plays you don’t know guys how relieved I am,” he furthered.
Jvee Casio supplied 16 points for the Aces. Simon Enciso showed up and played his best game of the conference so far with 13 markers, three rebounds, and three assists. Banchero chipped in 12 points and seven dimes.
Arnett Moultrie led all scorers and NLEX with 34 points along with eight rebounds. JR Quiñahan supplied 17 points and five caroms, while the debuting Mac Tallo had 11 points on top of three assists and three steals.
Alaska will look to continue winning versus Meralco on Sunday, June 17, 4:30 PM at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. Meanwhile, NLEX will aim to redeem themselves versus San Miguel on June 23, 5:00 PM in Calasiao, Pangasinan.
The Scores:
Alaska (120) — Campbell 28. Manuel 22, Casio 16, Enciso 13, Racal 13, Banchero 12, R. Pascual 6, Thoss 6, Exciminano 4, Baclao 0, Galliguez 0, Magat 0.
NLEX (111) — Moultrie 34, Quiñahan 17, Baguio 11, Mallari 11, Tallo 11, Tiongson 9, Ighalo 4, Miranda 4, Marcelo 3, Uyloan 3, Soyud 2, Taulava 2, Monfort 0.
Quarterscores: 28-14, 55-48, 88-86, 120-111.
