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Sports: PBA - ALASKA SQUARES SERIES AT 2-2
February 5, 2008
ALASKA SQUARES SERIES AT 2-2
Miller explodes for 27 in scary win
And the Aces thrived on the OK Corral-like setting, pulling off a 90-83 victory Sunday evening to even up their 2007-08 Smart PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series at two games apiece at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Willie Miller scored a game-high 27 points and the rest of the
The Realtors showed grit by coming back from a 26-point deficit, but the Aces made coach Tim Cone prouder after showing more resolve in coming back from an 82-91 defeat the last time out and weathering Sunday’s storm.
“We could have taken a step back after losing two tough games (earlier in the series) but we did not,” said Cone. “We came out breathing fire, played some defense and kept battling and challenging them and gave ourselves a chance.”
The way Sta. Lucia chiseled the deficit to just 60-62 and 74-78 could not be ignored, however.
“They (Realtors) could have began thinking about Game 5, but they did not. They made it a battle and my hats off to them,” said Cone.
“We know how good they are, how tough they are and they’re showing great character in that team. It’s tough to compete with that hunger and that’s something we have to do,” he added.
Kelly Williams had 23 points and 13 rebounds for his 15th double-double, tying him with Air21’s Arwind Santos for the most in the season-opening conference. Save for a brief spell in the two middle quarters, however, those figures and the others put up by his teammates went for naught in the face of
In all,
When the smoke from those fiery guns cleared, the Aces were sitting on an unassailable 88-74 spread, going into the last
The game turned into a no-quarters-asked-nor-given type despite Alaska’s hot start, giving Cone some anxious moments, especially when SLR came within 60-62 on Marlou Aquino’s charity, just inside the final 10 minutes.
“It was a battle from there. One play here or there would have given them a tie. Lucky for us,” said Cone.
For a long while, Miller single-handedly equaled SLR’s entire output, his 11th point off a short stab making it a 37-11 count,
And then the Realtors suddenly sprang back to life, staging a comeback that was relatively expected but still amazing in the swiftness and boldness it was fashioned.
Prior to Sunday’s match, Sta. Lucia was averaging just 7.5 three-point shots made per game in the conference and came tantalizingly close to totaling that right in the second quarter when it made seven.
Williams took full advantage of the fast-paced action that never really let the defense form, booming in four of those triples to spark and fuel a 24-7 barrage that closed the gap to a very manageable 35-44 at the half.
That explosion in the final half of the second quarter was hardly expected from a SLR team that practically had to scrape for every point in the opening period, in stark contrast to
Aside from getting outrebounded, 9-16, the Realtors also opened up shooting 3-of-21 from the field and consequently found themselves in a very deep 6-25 hole. (NCo)
Source: www.PBA.com.ph
