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Aces beat Beermen in out of town game

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/17/2009 10:38 PM

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MANILA -- Alaska survived San Miguel Beer’s second-half onslaught and hung on for an 85-74 victory, grabbing the solo lead in the KFC-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Saturday night at the Panabo Multi-Purpose Center in Panabo, Davao del Norte.

Willie Miller came out with another solid output for the Aces, scoring 21 points and grabbing 9 rebounds to lead his team to a 2-0 start in the tournament.

LA Tenorio added 18 markers, including a pair of three-pointers that helped Alaska withstand the rally of the Beermen in the final quarter.
Arwind Santos and Dondon Hontiveros each had 15 points for San Miguel, which started the conference with back-to-back losses.

The Beermen, who dropped a 98-86 decision to sister team Barangay Ginebra last Wednesday, also had a 0-2 start in the 2008 Fiesta Conference but went on to win the title against the Kings.

Miller, who notched his third career triple-double game in their 99-83 win over Barako Bull, unloaded 11 of his total output in the third period where the Aces hit 7 out of 13 three-point attempts.

With Larry Fonacier and Mark Borboran joining the scoring spree, Alaska held a 13-point lead twice before settling for a 64-53 lead going into the final period.

Alaska was still holding a 67-55 advantage after Jeff Cariaso’s three-point play off Bonbon Custodio’s foul with 10:35 left in the game when San Miguel unleashed a 13-2 burst to close the gap at 68-69 with 5:44 remaining.

Miller broke the silence of Alaska when he hit a 23-foot triple and Tenorio added 2 more three-pointers in addition to Jonas Villanueva’s drive, giving the Aces a 78-70 breather with 3:07 left in the contest.

After Villanueva scored on a lay-up, 72-78, Alaska scored the next six points to put the game out of reach with an 84-72 lead.

Cariaso and Reynel Hugnatan contributed 8 points apiece for coach Tim Cone, whose team finished second to Talk ‘N Text in the last All-Filipino tournament.