48 minutes was not enough to decide the winner as the Alaska Aces barged into win column after outmuscling the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in overtime 109-100 to cap off PBA Sunday doubleheader at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Banchero poured in 19 points and five assists on 6-for-10 shooting to help the Aces with the win and he gave credit to Ginebra’s toughness in the last quarter.
“I just try to play my best out there,” Banchero said. “We have a lot of good guys in our team and we’re going to get better as the tournament goes on.”
The Aces outscored Ginebra in the extra period, 15-4 including big time triples from Calvin Abueva and JVee Casio to put the nail in the coffin. Despite parading a productive new import in Justin Brownlee, a 31-point effort was not sufficient as he suffered from cramps in majority of the second half.
Notwithstanding an alive Ginebra crowd to push them in their fourth quarter run, the Alaska Aces kept in step by responding to big shots by the former down the stretch. Also, the Aces played a five-minute stretch without import Ladontae Henson due to two flagrant fouls assessed to the team.
Ginebra had a chance to pull away in regulation, but four missed free throws by Joe Devance hurt their chances. On the other side of the floor, Jazul made two freebies with 50 ticks left to tie the match at 94. At the last possession of the fourth quarter, Sol Mercado missed a game-winning layup against Alaska’s tough defense to force overtime.
“With the crowd here tonight they could always come back from any deficit,” Banchero added about the tough win. “We kept our poise to come up with the win. Ginebra’s always tough.”
Henton scored 29 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field, 6-for-6 from the stripe. Calvin Abueva added a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.
Brownlee scored a game-high 31 markers and grabbed 13 rebounds for Ginebra. Sol Mercado fought off foul trouble, scoring 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting.
Ginebra had more points in the paint and rebounds, 54-32 and 55-31 respectively. However, Alaska took advantage with an 83 percent clip from the free throw area at 26-for-31 compared to Ginebra’s poor 51 percent shooting at 15-for-29.
Moreover, the Aces made 15 3-pointers, which is ten more than Ginebra’s five to counter the latter’s interior dominance.
The Alaska Aces (1-1) will next face the Tropang TNT (2-0) on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, while Ginebra (1-1) looks to bounce back from this setback against the NLEX Road Warriors (1-1) on Wednesday at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
Alaska (109) – Henton 29, Banchero 19, Jazul 14, Abueva 12, Casio 7, Manuel 6, Thoss 6, Menk 5, Hontiveros 5, Racal 3, Baclao 2, Exciminiano 1, Magat 0
Ginebra (100) – Brownlee 31, Mercado 22, Tenorio 13, Aguilar 9, Ellis 8, Cruz 4, Mariano 4, Caguioa 4, Thompson 3, Devance 1, Marcelo 1, Bonifacio 0, Helterbrand 0
Quarterscores: 33-25, 53-46, 76-68, 94-94, 109-100
