Alaska Aces return from long rest with close 88-85 victory over Meralco Bolts

The Alaska Aces marked their return to the hardcourt from a 10-day respite with a down-the-wire 88-85 win over the Meralco Bolts last night in the 38th PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

JVee Casio and Mac Baracael hit a pair of crucial free throws help Alaska snap a four-game slide and tied its victim’s records at 6-6 (win-loss).

Returning from a nasal injury that kept him in the hospital for three days, rookie Calvin Abueva copped the Best Player of the Game honors by leading the Aces with 20 points, 18 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.

The win kept Alaska’s hopes of competing in a best-of-three series instead of playing with a twice-to-beat disadvantage against higher-ranked foe in the quarterfinal round.

Meralco defeated Alaska in their first meeting, 93-86, and looked headed to duplicating that win when it took a 79-75 lead in the final 5:38.

Four straight points from Baracael and Abueva tied the count but Sol Mercado put the Bolts up once more with a triple, making it 85-82 with 4:24 left.

Both traded with missed shots and miscues before Casio hit game-tying triple and Baracael followed it up with another booming trifecta that handed the Aces an 85-82 edge with 1:03 to go.

Cyrus Baguio stretched Alaska’s lead to five with an acrobatic layup but the Bolts refused to go down easily when Reynel Hugnatan converted a three-point play that cut Alaska’s lead to two, 85-87, 57.1 seconds left.

After Alaska big man Joachim Thoss missed a short hook shot in the next play, Meralco had the chance to tie the count but Mark Cardona’s up-and-under move rimmed out.

Casio missed one of his two free throws with 9.5 seconds left but Ronjay Buenafe misfired a triple in Meralco’s last possession.