Mahindra rallies to stun Alaska for 4-0 slate

James White and the Mahindra Enforcers continued to amaze, fighting back from a 16-point deficit to turn back the Alaska Milk Aces, 101-95, in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Still trailing by nine, 65-74, at the start of the fourth quarter, the Enforcers caught up at 93-all in the last 2:17 mark and roared on to steal the game and stay unbeaten in four starts in the season-ending tourney.

The Enforcers chalked up win No. 4 with playing coach Manny Pacquiao playing briefly in the opening quarter.

But it was the duo of White and Keith Agovida who delivered the telling punches, sending the Aces reeling to a third loss against a lone win.

White came through with 32 points and 15 rebounds while Agovida got away 11 points in 15 minutes of action, including two clutch ones in the last two minutes.

“(Agovida) is my magic bunot tonight,” said Mahindra coach Chris Gavina.

The former Arellano U hitman sneaked in a layup to tie the count at 95 with 1:50 left in the clock. Moments later, he clinched their come-from-behind victory on an undergoal stab off an assist by White.

The efforts of the other Mahindra players were not lost on their coach.

“It’s purely resilient tonight. They persevered through the initial wave of Alaska’s high-powered offense. We came off timid, played at their pace which was kind of frantic. But when our guys calmed down and settled down, they responded tremendously,” said Gavina.

The Enforcers struggled badly at the start, perhaps because of the lost of chief playmaker LA Revilla on a broken nose suffered in practice. He may be out for two weeks.

John Pinto, Nico Elorde and Hyram Bagatsing took turns to fill Revilla’s spot, each one having their contribution in the contest.

Going down the drain were the big numbers of LaDontae Henton and Calvin Abueva for the Aces.

Abueva went two-of-two from the three-point land off Pacquiao in a span of a few seconds in the first quarter. It best typified the relative ease Alaska Milk handled Mahindra early on.

Pacquiao, now a senator of the republic, played the last 2:60 minutes of the opening quarter, missing one
field-goal attempt and twice beaten on his defense by Abueva.

The Aces opened a 10-point lead, 28-18, with Pacquiao on the floor and stayed in the lead until their endgame collapse.

Henton and Abueva dealt Mahindra the biggest damage early on, combining for 33 points in the opening half where the Aces enjoyed a huge 16-point lead at 43-27.

Abueva was 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from the stripe for 15 points in the first half. After his second trey, Abueva whispered something to Pacquiao, with both flashing good smiles.

Pacquiao and his team had the last laugh in the end, though.

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