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PBA semis: Alaska enjoys 2-0 lead, San Miguel rebounds
Written by staff   
Saturday, 17 January 2009 04:44

Alaska and San Miguel took on separate paths in their respective KFC Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup semifinals series Friday night.

While Alaska took a 2-0 lead against defending champion Sta. Lucia, San Miguel bounced back to tie Talk ‘N Text in a pair of semis match ups held at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Aces, who trailed most of the first half, further pressured Sta. Lucia’s title defense bid after a 94-87 win against the Realtors while the Beermen bounced back from a lackluster Game 1 performance to carve out a masterful 112-103 triumph over the Tropang Texters.

Miller, who was quiet offensively in the first half, starred for the Aces’ second-half comeback with his three-pointer capping off a 7-2 exchange to give Alaska an 80-70 lead in the early goings of the fourth quarter.

Joseph Yeo tried desperately to resuscitate the Realtors’ fading offense draining a triple in the 1:49 mark of the final canto as Sta. Lucia closed in at 85-89.

But the Aces showed steady nerves in the final stretch of the contest to escape with the win.

Miller, a two-time most valuable player, and Joe De Vance scored 17 points apiece to lead four other Aces that turned in 10 points or more.

“We must play more aggressively. We don’t want a repeat of last year’s semifinals where (Sta. Lucia) tied the series to gain the momentum," said Miller after the game. “We don’t want to be complacent in this series."

Jeffrey Cariaso added 15 points, LA Tenorio scored 14 markers and dished out eight assists while Sonny Thoss and Tony Dela Cruz chipped in 11 and 10 more.

Dennis Espino scattered 20 points to pace the Realtors, who led most of the first half only to collapse in the crucial stages of the match. He shot 8-of-14 from the floor and seven rebounds, three of which came at the offensive end.

Yeo tallied 19 points while Kelly Williams finished with 15 markers, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Dennis Miranda added 12 more to go with his four rebounds and four assists.

In the first game, Dondon Hontiveros and Danny Seigle tallied 23 points apiece in San Miguel’s 112-103 win over Talk ‘N Text.

The Beermen behind Hontiveros and Seigle’s combined 18-for-26 shooting from the field managed to tie their semis match up against a Tropang Texters squad that romped to a 129-100 decision in last week’s series opener.

Bonbon Custodio, Jay Washington and Marc Pingris chipped in 16, 14 and 11 markers.

Talk ‘N Text bigmen Ranidel Ocampo, Harvey Carey and Ali Peek combined for 42 points and 35 rebounds to complety outplay the San Miguel frontcourt.

Jimmy Alapag, who scored 11 in the first half, was held to six in the last two periods to finish with 17 points four rebounds and five assists.

Ren Ren Ritualo and Mark Cardona, who submitted 24 and 21 each in TNT’s convincing win in Game 1, was held to eight points apiece behind a combined 5-of-14 field goal shooting.

Rookie Jason Castro, despite having six assists, also had an off-night with nine points.
 
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