WITH their best-of-five Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup semifinal series knotted at one game apiece, the Alaska Aces and Meralco Bolts shoot for the go-ahead when they collide anew for Game Three today at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
The Aces levelled the series with a 100-95 victory in Game Two on Tuesday, showing steadiness in play notwithstanding the determination of the Bolts in trying to get the win and keep their winning streak going.
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 Bolts came back late in the contest, narrowing their deficit to just one point, 96-95, with 14 seconds remaining but they could not complete the comeback as the Aces held tight and preserved the win.
“We got out of a hole and we’ve now got a best-of-three,” said a relieved Alaska coach Alex Compton, whose team did not get its game going as much as it wanted to in the series-opener.
“That’s basketball and they are a great team. We expect nothing less from them and we had to match up with them,” Mr. Harris, meanwhile, said of the near comeback of the Bolts in Game Two.
For Meralco, the loss halted its spectacular winning streak to seven games, an ascent that allowed them to book a place in the playoffs by way of the backdoor and bucked a twice-to-win handicap in the quarterfinals against the Phoenix Fuel Masters.
Meanwhile, the Bolts’ Amer was named PBA player of the week for the period of Nov. 5 to 11 as he played a key role in his team’s resurgence in the ongoing tournament.
The former San Beda star averaged 18 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals in said period.
In winning the award, Mr. Amer beat out teammate Chris Newsome, Magnolia’s Paul Lee, Barangay Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar and Alaska’s Vic Manuel. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
