By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE best-of-five Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup semifinal series between the Alaska Aces and Meralco Bolts has been reduced to a race-to-two wins after the former levelled the series with a 100-95 victory in Game Two on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Ended on the raw side in the series-opener two days prior, the Aces made sure not to get buried deeper with a steady showing throughout the contest notwithstanding the determination showed by the Bolts to get the win and take a commanding series lead.
Import Mike Harris led the Aces in the win with 37 points and 19 rebounds with Simon Enciso adding 23 points.
Chris Banchero had a near triple-double of 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
For Meralco it was import Allen Durham who showed the way with 24 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds,
Nico Salva had 20 points while Baser Amer finished with 14.
The contest was tightly fought right from the start with Alaska just managing to post a two-point lead, 23-21, at the end of the first quarter.
The nip-and-tuck affair continued to begin the second quarter as the two teams went back-and-forth.
Guard Enciso though would wax hot late in the frame to help Alaska to a 47-40 advantage by the halftime break.
Alaska showed no letup on both ends of the court to begin the third canto, extending their lead to 15 points, 59-44, in the first four minutes.
It was a leverage the Aces would use to create further distance, with their lead ballooning to 20 points, 66-46, by the 4:31 mark.
Mr. Salva kept Meralco in the game after as they narrowed their deficit to just 13 points, 70-57, inside the last two minutes of the quarter.
The Aces eventually regained their bearing and ended the frame with a 74-60 advantage.
Meralco began the fourth canto looking to gain more headway in its comeback bid.
Mr. Durham and Reynel Hugnatan would push the Bolts to within eight points, 80-72, with 6:36 to go.
The Bolts kept coming back after and put the pressure on the Aces.
A breakaway lay-up by Mr. Durham with 50 seconds left pushed them to just two points away, 92-90.
Import Mike Harris though drained a jumper with 34 seconds left to give the Aces more breathing space only to be answered back by Mr. Durham 11 seconds later to push the count to 94-92.
Meralco chose to foul with 18 ticks remaining but JVee Casio was steady on the line to make it 96-92 for the Aces.
Chris Newsome hit a triple with 14 seconds left to make it a one-point ball game, 96-95.
Meralco once again fouled Mr. Casio who continued to make his free throws to give the Aces a 98-95 lead with seven seconds to go.
The Bolts had a chance to tie the contest but a triple attempt by Mr. Amer failed to connect and Alaska held on for the victory.
“That’s basketball and they are a great team. We expect nothing less from them and we had to match up with them,” said Mr. Harris of the near comeback of the Bolts.
Game Three of the series is on Thursday at the Cuneta Astrodome.
