Ginebra San Miguel held their ground against Alaska Aces’ continued onslaught in the second half to forge a nail-biting 93-92 win in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Both Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar posted big numbers, Slaughter leading all players with 27 points and 19 rebounds. Aguilar also had a double-double performance, scoring 23 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Ginebra led from the start but squandered a 19-point half-time advantage and even ceded the lead in the last 15 seconds after Vic Manuel made a short jumper to make it 92-91 to Alaska. But the seven-foot behemoth Slaughter proved his mettle, calmly sinking two free throws to make it 93-92 with only four seconds left and win the game.
The victory was Ginebra’s first in the current Philippine Cup, while Alaska suffered their first loss in four games.
“Alaska have always been good at coming back,” coach Tim Cone told Sport360. “Their pressure is relentless and we just held on for our lives down the stretch.”
Cone, the former Alaska coach and most accomplished in the PBA with 18 titles, added: “The team have stretches where they play beautifully, but also where they look ugly. We will smooth that out in the coming games.”
Alaska coach Alex Compton, meanwhile, was not downhearted despite defeat.
“They posted a big lead early in the game but we just kept coming,” he said. “We played hard and fought for every possession and I’m proud of the efforts of my players.”
