November 16, 2018

Aces go for clincher vs Bolts

Alaska Milk did better than Meralco in closing out the game in their last two matches. The Aces now eye to close out the series for a return stint in the PBA Finals.

Now ahead in their Governors Cup best-of-five semifinal series at 2-1, the Aces don't intend to look back, wary of battling the Bolts in a winner-take-all match.

Alaska coach Alex Compton actually expects the Bolts to pour it all right in the next game where they are back in a very familiar situation with one foot in the grave.

The Aces fight to end the series while the Bolts fight to survive as they slug it out at 7 p.m. back at the Cuneta Astrodome Saturday.

Compton and his troops pulled through, 104-102, in a hell of a battle Thursday to move on the cusp of the best-of-seven finals. They expect nothing less in what could well be another slam-bang battle.

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The Bolts are down but are optimistic they can come out of the hole.

"It's do or die so we'll just go out and play our best, and hopefully win the game," said Meralco coach Norman Black.

"Do or die. We win or we go home. I think everybody in the locker room is motivated. We've been in this position before, now we've just got to get the outcome what we want," said Meralco import Allen Durham.

The Bolts have been a miracle team in the tourney, surviving no less than six straight do-or-die matches to make the semifinals.

The question is whether they still have a gas left in their tank.

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The Bolts ran out of steam and firepower at the end of a grind-out battle Thursday, with Durham missing on two good looks at the basket in the closing seconds.

"We couldn't get the offensive rebound when we needed it. Like three different possessions or something like that. We had an opportunity to get a head way in the game but we couldn't do it, we couldn't get the rebounds. That hurt us," said Durham.

"Obviously, I missed the point-blank shot in the end.

Disappointing. But with that being said, it is not over. We've got two more games. We'll come out and be ready," he added.

Durham is the reigning back-to-back Best Import in this tourney but he's now got a huge battle against Mike Harris.

The super-strong Alaska import collected 31 points, 24 rebounds and 11 assists in a triple-double game Thursday that he highlighted by a three-point play to break the game's last deadlock.

Harris also had monstrous numbers in the first two games of the series. (SB)