MANILA – Alaska Aces moved to a share of the No. 1 spot in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup after a 116-109 victory over Blackwater Elite on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Mike Harris finished with double-double 38 points and 18 rebounds, while Chris Banchero added 28 markers for the Aces (7-2 win-loss), which tied with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings and Magnolia Hotshots on top.
Trailing by as much as 10 points early in the match, the Aces came up with a strong second quarter showing on outside shots by Harris and perimeter shots by Banchero for their largest lead 57-45 at the half.
The Aces maintained the double-digit edge in the third period. The Elite mounted fight-backs several times behind Henry Walker and Allein Maliksi for an 82-87 deficit but the Aces raised the advantage back to 10 points in the fourth courtesy of Banchero.
Making its final push, the Elite came to as close as 103-106 but the Aces displayed its endgame poise with shots from Harris and Vic Manuel to stretch the lead 116-106.
Walker had triple-double of 29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, while Michael Digregorio and John Paul Erram had 20 and 18 markers for the Elite (6-3).
In the first game, Meralco Bolts came alive in the fourth quarter to score 91-82 against the shorthanded Rain or Shine Elasto Painters for their third consecutive triumph and keep their playoff hopes alive.
Both teams were knotted at 65 at the start of the fourth period when the Bolts slowly created distance from the Painters 82-74 on shots by Cris Michael Tolomia and Allen Durham.
After the Painters cut the deficit to 6, the Bolts unloaded another furious run from Chris Newsome and Clifford Hodge for its largest lead of the match 90-77 on an inside shot by Durham.
Durham led the way with 19 points and 20 rebounds, while Tolomia and Hodge added 17 and 14 points, respectively, for the Bolts (4-6). Norbert Torres led the scoring with 16 points for the Painters (2-6)./PN
