ALASKA CLAIMS POSTSEASON TOP SEEDING
PANABO CITY – Romeo Travis made things happen at the finish for Alaska Milk here, stopping San Miguel’s endgame chase and the Beermen’s amazing eight-game romp in a key win that made the Aces the PBA Governors Cup postseason top seeds.
Travis scored seven straight points then gave Alaska two crucial possessions leading to an 82-77 victory in the Petron Blaze Saturday Special at the Panabo City Multi-Purpose Complex.
The Alaska import took charge just as the Aces looked headed for a heartbreaking loss in the game that they dominated almost throughout.
Travis bailed the team out, and thus the Aces zoomed to the top at 8-2, assured of No. 1 finish in the elimination round regardless of the outcome of their last game against the Globalport Batang Pier Wednesday.
With a closing 8-3 mark, the Beermen are settling for second place, facing the No. 7 team in the quarterfinals.
It’s a near wire-to-wire win for the Aces who jumped the gun on the Beermen and led by as many as 21 in the third before facing an SMB siege in the payoff period.
The Beermen surged ahead at 77-74 with 2:47 left, but the Aces recovered and salvaged the game, largely through the effort of their import.
As SMB took its first and only taste of the lead, Travis scored on a drive then drained two charities to push the Aces back on top, 79-77.
With that precarious lead, Travis made a good tap following a missed three-point attempt by Dondon Hontiveros, leading to a trip to the line by Jvee Casio.
The ace Alaska guard canned in the front-end of his charities then missed the second one. But Travis once again came out to make a good tap of the loose ball.
Casio had another trip to the line and made both as Alaska went away with the five-point win.
Travis collected all-around numbers of 32 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
From a six-all count, the Aces made their initial blast, opening a 13-point lead at 21-8.
Alaska kept a 13-point margin, 23-10, through the first quarter and stepped up its attack to enjoy a pair of 19-point spreads before taking the half at 47-31. (SB)
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