Make it eight in a row for Vic Manuel.
The Alaska Aces power forward is clearly on a tear right now in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup, that on Sunday night against the Meralco Bolts, his personal streak of scoring 20 points has stretched to eight long games.
Manuel had 22 points versus the Bolts. This streak is the longest by a local player since Terrence Romeo had nine straight for GlobalPort in the 2016 Philippine Cup, according to the league’s chief statistician Fidel Mangonon.
Making the recent feat more impressive is that Manuel did such even if he had Meralco’s wide-bodied, 6-foot-10 import Arinze Onuaku on his way.
“Si Onuaku parang china-challenge niya ko kanina na itira ko sa labas eh, so ayun, may mga times naman na pumapasok kanina,” shared Manuel, who also had eight board. “Ready lang ako lagi tsaka ine-enjoy ko lang yung laro.”
However, Manuel can’t celebrate this achievement of his. He may have kept his own streak rolling, but the same can’t be said for Alaska as the Milkmen saw the end of their seven-game winning run come to an end, 74-89.
“Parang off-night talaga kami kanina eh,” rued the six-year veteran. “Bad execution tapos ang dami pang turnovers. Saka ang galing dumipensa ng Meralco. Sobrang aggressive nila sa depensa…
“‘Di naman laging swerte sa laro.”
The loss had helped Meralco gain a share of the second spot of the team standings — both the Bolts and the Aces are carrying a 7-2 card. Had Alaska won, finishing on either of the top two spots could’ve been within their grasp.
But then, the damage had been done. And for Manuel, all that he cares about is for him and Alaska to make it into the next phase, that he doesn’t really think much about winning the Commissioner’s Cup Best Player of the Conference plum.
The 6-foot-4 Manuel has a solid case of bagging home his first-ever BPC award as he is currently averaging 24.2 points and 6.3 rebounds.
“Hindi, hindi,” insisted Manuel with a slight beam.
“Basta goal namin makapasok kami sa playoffs. Makapunta kaming semis. Or pag sinuwerte kami, makabalik kami sa Finals. Yun yung goal namin eh.”
