RK Ilagan drained the biggest shot of his budding as Alaska weathered Meralco, 94-93, to realign its farewell tour on the right track in the 2021-22 PBA Governors’ Cup, Saturday evening at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The rookie playmaker was given the opportunity to take the Aces home, and that’s exactly what he did as he sank the pullup just inside the three-point arc as time expired after evading the defense of the much bigger Bong Quinto.
Picked 31st overall in the last draft, Ilagan finished with a career-high 11 points to tow the Aces to their sixth win, virtually clinching a quarterfinal spot.
“Honestly, yes, it was,” said head coach Jeff Cariaso when asked if the last play was designed for Ilagan. “I think when you work as hard as RK does, when you put in the work as hard as RK does, he deserves the opportunity.
“That’s a shot RK works on in practice every day, so I didn’t have a problem with him taking that shot,” he added. “I knew he was going to be able to get a shot off around the free-throw line area, if not a little higher. Good for him.”
That shot also saved Alaska from humiliation after blowing a 17-point lead to a fiery Allein Maliksi, who poured 10 of his 32 points in a 12-0 run to start the fourth that cut the deficit to just a point, 82-81, with 8:07 to go.
They somehow became lucky that the 34-year-old gunner fouled out shortly after. However, Cliff Hodge, Tony Bishop, and Bong Quinto carried the fight for the Bolts and even built an 89-83 lead with 3:48 remaining.
Worse, the Aces had to play with an all-local lineup the rest of the way when Olu Ashaolu was ejected with 6:18 left following an unsportsmanlike foul on Cliff Hodge. He left with 21 points and nine rebounds.
But there was just no quit in them. Jeron Teng and Abu Tratter delivered important buckets to close within one, 92-93, with 32.6 seconds left.
Chris Banchero tried to strike the dagger but missed, and Teng was there to collar the miss. The Aces then sued for time with 4.7 seconds left, and that’s when Cariaso drew up the play for his young gun that was executed.
“Super proud. When one man goes down, we all have to pick it up and make up for it,” said Cariaso. “Everyone else stepped up and we’re happy.”
Mike DiGregorio had 21 points on four triples off the bench for Alaska, who remained at fourth in the standings. Teng added 12 markers.
The Aces will have their sights set on Phoenix Super LPG, whom they will face on March 3, Thursday, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. It is their penultimate game of the eliminations before battling Magnolia on the 6th.
Meanwhile, Tony Bishop had a conference-low of 18 points and 13 rebounds for Meralco, who failed to secure the provisional lead with the loss.
Raymond Almazan was the only other double-digit scorer with 12 points in the defeat that dropped their card to 6-2, although they remained at second behind Magnolia, whom they will face on Wednesday, March 2, at 6 p.m.
The Scores:
Alaska 94 – DiGregorio 21, Ashaolu 21, Ilagan 11, Teng 9, Tratter 9, Taha 7, Racal 7, Bulanadi 4, Faundo 2, Stockton 0, Ahanmisi 0.
Meralco 93 – Maliksi 32, Bishop 18, Almazan 12, Newsome 9, Quinto 7, Banchero 6, Black 5, Hodge 4, Baclao 0, Hugnatan 0, Caram 0.
Quarterscores: 23-19, 52-47, 81-69, 94-93.
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