SONNY Thoss and Chris Banchero were already having a special game for Alaska.
Then they made sure their efforts did not go to waste by coming up big in the endgame to lift the Aces to a hard-earned 103-101 win over Blackwater Wednesday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Banchero's mid-range jumper, followed by Thoss' own 17-footer, enabled Alaska to overcome a 99-100 deficit and go into the last 34 seconds with a three-point lead.
Roi Sumang inched the Elite closer with a charity and the count held when the Aces were able to regain possession following a miss by Ping Exciminiano.
In the end, Alaska emerged with a second straight win to improve to 2-1 while dealing Blackwater a fourth straight loss that dropped it to 1-6.
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No matter the score, this one should sting the Elite as much as their last three defeats by an average of 17 points.
True to coach Bong Ramos' wish, Blackwater kept the game close and even wrested the upper hand several times after trailing by 13 points in the third quarter.
It's just that the Elite failed to find the winning line like Alaska did.
"I thought the guys did a tremendous job, considering... what's going on," said Aces coach Alex Compton, who continued to miss the services of Vic Manuel, Jayvee Casio, Simon Enciso and Kevin Racal, who are all recuperating from injuries.
"Their (Blackwater's) players were really playing well, so they scare me," added Compton. "So to come out with a win in this situation. It's a nice win."
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Jeron Teng and Carl Bryan Cruz each scored 18 points for Alaska with Thoss adding 16, the 37-year-old center's most points in a long while.
"A lot of us coaches are less concerned about points and more concerned with how you play. And he was playing the right way," said Compton of Thoss.
"I thought he played the right way today again. I was tired when I was 34. His level of activity was tremendous."
For his part, Banchero only had 11 points but issued a season-high 16 assists.
"He's got an ability to get PBA players open shots that a lot of guys don't have," noted Compton. "It's not that he's completely different from everybody else, but he's got one of those upper echelon abilities to create for other people."
Roi Sumang added 18 points and Mike Digregorio for Blackwater, which has enough time to lick its wounds and fine-tune its offense before seeing action anew against Columbian on March 1, the same day Alaska faces Phoenix. (NC)
The scores:
Alaska 103 - Teng 18, Cruz 18, Thoss 16, Exciminiano 14, Banchero 11, Ayaay 9, Pascual 8, Galliguez 7, Potts 2, Baclao 0.
Blackwater 101 - Maliksi 25, Sumang 18, Digregorio 14, Jose 9, Tratter 7, Belo 7, Sena 6, Cortez 6, Desiderio 4, Alolino 3, Eriobu 2, Javier 0, Banal 0.
Quarters: 29-28, 49-48, 75-72, 103-101.
