By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

DEALT a big loss last time around that could potentially derail their chances of advancing to the quarterfinal phase of the PBA Philippine Cup, the Alaska Aces are still not giving up hope even if technically their fate is no longer in their hands.

Following a 94-84 loss to the Northport Batang Pier on their final elimination game of the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association tournament on March 27, the Aces (4-7), currently outside of the playoff picture at ninth place, are hoping to catch a break when the league returns from the All-Star break for the final playdate of the classification phase on Wednesday.

Alaska needs either Northport and the NLEX Road Warriors, tied at seventh with 4-6 records, to lose in their final game of the eliminations to get a shot at progressing via a one-game playoff for the last quarterfinal seat.

The Batang Pier face off with the already-qualified Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings (7-3) while the Road Warriors meet up with the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok (5-5).

If the Batang Pier and Road Warriors win though, the Aces are automatically eliminated.

The Aces lost to both Northport and NLEX in their earlier games.

“I hope we get a chance,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton after their tough loss in their last game.

“We’re going to practice and make the most of that sliver of hope that we have. I know some of the guys will be away for the All-Star but we’re going to practice and cheer for teams we don’t always cheer for — Ginebra and Magnolia — on Wednesday,” he added.

Against Northport, the Aces found themselves struggling to keep in step with the former in the middle quarters, allowing the Batang Pier to gain momentum and control which they never relinquished the rest of the way en route to dealing the loss to Alaska while padding their cause.

Carl Bryan Cruz led the Aces with 23 points followed by Sonny Thoss with 14 points and Simon Enciso with 11.

As of the moment, only six teams are already assured of a seat in the quarterfinals, namely the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters (9-2) and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (8-3), the top two teams which will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage in the next round; Barangay Ginebra, TNT KaTropa (7-4), defending champions San Miguel Beermen (7-4), and Magnolia.

Out of the running are Columbian Dyip (4-7), Meralco Bolts (3-8) and Blackwater Elite (2-9).

SKILLS CHALLENGE WINNERS
Meanwhile, Beau Belga of Rain or Shine and Rey Guevarra of Phoenix Pulse retained their respective PBA All-Star Skills Challenge titles while veteran Peter June Simon won the three-point contest.

Mr. Belga is still the Obstacle Course king after besting fellow big men Russell Escoto (Columbian) and Yousif Taha (TNT) in the finals on the first day of the All-Star festivities on Friday in Calasiao, Pangasinan.

The burly Rain or Shine player recorded a time of 21 seconds on the full course in the finals, three-tenths of a second better than Escoto (21.3 seconds) with Mr. Taha at third (26.3 seconds).

Mr. Guevarra, for his part, was the Slam Dunk winner for the fifth straight year, defeating Renz Palma of Blackwater in the finals off a dunk-off, punctuated by a perfect 50 points after soaring for a one-hander through a sea of his teammates who assisted him.

Magnolia’s Simon, meanwhile, won the Three-Point Shootout contest at the age of 38.

He topped the elimination round with 20 points before defeating Robert Bolick (Northport) and Philip Paniamogan (NLEX) in the finals.

Mr. Simon had 17 in the championship round, narrowly beating Mr. Bolick’s 16 points. Mr. Paniamogan had 14.

Also a big winner was the rookies-sophomores team, which defeated the juniors selection, 141-140, in their revived All-Star offering.

Rain or Shine rookie Javee Mocon tipped in the game-winner as the buzzer sounded for his team to secure the win. It was top overall pick CJ Perez of Columbian, however, who was named game most valuable player after scoring 32 points, 18 coming in the fourth period, to lead his team’s comeback win over the juniors.

Later yesterday the main feature North All-Stars versus the South All-Stars was to be played at the Calasiao Sports Center.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR