THE Alaska Aces came back from double-digit deficits to post a come-from-behind, 93-88 win over the Petron Blaze Boosters last night in the 37th PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
The win was the Aces’ fourth in seven games, scoring a much-needed victory to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Petron was in control for most part of the game, posting double-digit leads early including a, 27-18 advantage after the first period. The Boosters continued to keep the Aces at bay in the second quarter to bring a 52-43 lead into the second half.
However, the Aces rallied in the third, slicing the deficit to just one, 65-66, heading to the fourth quarter.
Alaska finally snatch the lead when Sonny Thoss opened the fourth with a basket before Cyrus Baguio drained a triple for a, 70-66 leeway. The Aces led by as many as seven points in the final stanza and successfully thwarted any comeback attempts by the Boosters to escape with the win.
Import Adam Parada led the Aces with 22 huge points, while Baguio added 19 markers. Bonbon Custodio came off the bench to chip in 17 points while Thoss and LA Tenorio scored 14 and 11 as the Aces recovered from a sorry, 85-88 loss to the Air21 Express last week.
The Boosters absorbed their second straight loss to drop to 3-4 (win-loss).
Nick Fazekas topped the Boosters with a game-high 33 points, while Arwind Santos, Joseph Yeo and Alex Cabagnot added 14, 11 and 10 markers, respectively.
BOX SCORES
ALASKA (93)- Parada 22, Baguio 19, Custodio 17, Thoss 14, Tenorio 11, Baracael 6, Reyes 2, Eman 1, Gelig 1, Salamat 0.
PETRON (88) – Fazekas 33, Santos 14, Yeo 11, Cabagnot 10, Ildefonso 9, Guevarra 6, Miranda 5, Reyes 0. QUARTERSCORES: 18-27, 43-52, 65-66, 93-88.