Alaska thwarts Air21’s endgame rally, books semis ticket

THE AIR21 Express were one of the only two teams to beat the Alaska Aces in the elimination round of the 38th PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

But when the stakes are higher, the Aces showed who is the better team.

The top-seeded Aces withstood the Express’ repeated endgame rallies to nail a semifinal-clinching 87-81 victory in their quarterfinal battle last night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

The Aces went into the game with a twice-to-beat incentive but quickly finish off the Express behind a strong start.

Alaska led by as many as 17 points in the half but allowed Air21 to come back as the Express, the lowest-ranked in the playoffs, rallied to within two points twice in the closing minutes.

Down by 17 at the half, Air21 sliced the deficit to 72-68 early in the fourth but Alaska recovered its bearing and restored another double-digit lead, 80-69, with 4:58 lead.

The Express, however, weren’t done yet as they forced the Aces into a maze of errors and cut the deficit to just two, 78-80, with 2:28 to go.

Center Sonny Thoss helped Alaska douse Air21’s rally by hitting a long jumper then Jvee Casio sank a booming triple following an empty Air21 possession as the Aces erected a commanding 85-78 lead with 1:15 left.

Casio finished with game-high 19 points, while Rob Dozier pitched in 17 markers and 22 rebounds.

The Aces will next play the winner in the San Mig Coffee-Meralco quarterfinal best-of-three series.

Meralco leads the series, 1-0.

BOX SCORES

ALASKA (87)- Casio 19, Dozier 17, Abueva 14, Thoss 12, Baguio 12, Jazul 8, Hontiveros 3, Dela Cruz 2, Espinas 0.

AIR 21 (81)- Canaleta 16, Dunigan 13, Cortez 11, Omolon 9, Custodio 8, Isip 8, Arboleda 8, Baclao 4, Menor 4, Atkins 0, Wilson 0, Ritualo 0.

QUARTERSCORES: 28-21, 46-29, 67-60, 87-81./EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA