By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

THE season-ending Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup hits the next stage beginning Sunday with the start of the quarterfinal phase.

Following a full round of elimination play, the field is now narrowed down to eight teams which are angling to go even deeper in the tournament.

Advancing to the quarters are top seeds NLEX Road Warriors, followed by the Meralco Bolts, TNT KaTropa, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, San Miguel Beermen, Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok, Alaska Aces and Northport Batang Pier.

The Road Warriors, Bolts and KaTropa finished the classification round with identical 8-3 records but by virtue of a higher tiebreaker quotient NLEX took the top spot.

All three, along with number four team Barangay Ginebra, enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals over their lower-seeded opponents.

NLEX will take on Northport. Meralco has Alaska in their pairing while TNT faces off with Magnolia and Barangay Ginebra taking on Grand Slam-seeking San Miguel.

The Governors’ Cup quarterfinal proceedings begin on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with the pairing between the Bolts and Aces playing in the 4:30 p.m. opener and the Kings versus the Beermen at 7 p.m.

Meralco took its lone encounter with Alaska in the elimination round, winning big, 101-75, behind the efforts of import Allen Durham and guard Baser Amer.

Mr. Durham had a huge game of 25 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists with Mr. Amer top-scoring with 27 points, 17 of which coming in the telling second half.

The match was tight in the opening 24 minutes before Meralco flipped the switch and outscored Alaska 58-38 in the second half to run away with the big victory.

Alaska in said game was paced by Chris Banchero with 14 points. Mr. Banchero, however, has since been traded to Magnolia.

Simon Enciso also had 12 points for the Aces, with Sonny Thoss, JVee Casio and Abu Tratter adding nine points each.

Despite dropping its lone game against Meralco, the Aces are expected to compete on a firmer footing come the quarterfinals, riding on the momentum of a four-game winning streak heading into the playoffs.

The winning streak successfully turned things around for Alaska after a 0-5 start to their campaign, including the loss to Meralco.

The Aces assured themselves a spot in the quarterfinals after winning their final game of the eliminations against NLEX, 106-90, on Wednesday.

Having recovered the way they did, Alaska coach Jeff Cariaso paid tribute to the efforts of his players and for never giving up despite their early struggles.

“Credit to the players really. They are going to practice every day and constantly challenging themselves. And those sacrifices showed in this game,” said Mr. Cariaso, who is in his first conference with Alaska after replacing Alex Compton as head coach.

Meanwhile, the other quarterfinal pairings will play on Monday, Nov. 25, also at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

NLEX versus Northport is at 4:30 p.m., followed by TNT against Magnolia at 7 p.m.

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