source: GMAnews.tv
Make that Lucky 13 for Alaska. The Aces weathered repeated rallies by the San Miguel Beermen in the fourth period, holding on to preserve a 102-88 victory in Game 6 of the PBA Fiesta Conference best-of-seven series Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.
The victory enabled the Aces to match the 13 championships of the legendary Crispa Redmanizers and become the second winningest team in PBA history.
Alasla positioned itself among the greatest franchises in PBA history by beating no less than the winningest team of all-time.
Diamon Simpson fired 28 points and snared down 19 rebounds and Cyrus Baguio played his best game in the Finals with 24 points as the two spearheaded a hot first quarter by the Aces to set the tempo of the match they would sustain till the endgame.
The Aces wrapped up the 100th title in PBA annals by winning the series, 4 games to 2.
Not only did Alaska match the number of titles by the Redmanizers, coach Tim Cone also tied Baby Dalupan, his coaching idol, for the most number of titles with imports with a total of nine championships.
Tagged as the underdogs entering the playoffs, the Aces made the crowning glory even sweeter by getting past Ginebra in the quarterfinals, no. 1 seed Talk `N Text in the semis and finally, conquering the no. 2 seeded Beermen in a tournament they were touted to win it all.
“It was an overwhelming performance by our team," said Cone. “We made tough shots all night. It was as if we were destined to win this thing, and somehow we did. What makes this special is the road we had to take."
The title is Alaska’s first in three years since bagging the same tournament in 2007.
Joe Devance added 14, and LA Tenorio had 12 points, 11 assists and six rebounds in winning his first championship as a pro.
Tenorio and Baguio were named co-winners of the Welcoat Paints-PBA Finals MVP, the first pair of players to win the award since Eric Menk and Ronald Tubid did it for Barangay Ginebra in the 2008 Fiesta Cup Finals.
“We made a deal of winning the first quarter today," said Cone. “It’s just a matter of trusting the players."
With Baguio at the firing end, the Aces took their biggest lead in the first half at 41-27, before settling for an eight-point lead at the half.
Best Import Gabe Freeman led San Miguel Beer with 32 points and 18 rebounds, but never got solid contributions from the Beermen’s formidable bench.
Arwind Santos led the locals with 16 points and Mick Pennisi had 12, all of which came from beyond-the-arc as the Beermen tried to rally back.
But San Miguel’s woes were compounded by Jay Washington’s five-point effort, while veteran Dondon Hontiveros again struggled for four points. - RCJ, GMANews.TV
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