Alaska tripped by San Miguel Beer

The Alaska Aces came tantalizingly close but fell short in the end.

The Aces bowed to the San Miguel Beermen, 94-96, in Game 5 of the best-of-seven championship series in the 2010 Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last Sunday.

With 2.2 seconds remaining and in possession of the ball the Aces had one final chance to send the game into overtime or win outright. Cyrus Baguio got the ball from the throw in, dribbled a few times to brush off his guard then fired a triple attempt. The ball hit the front of the rim then bounced away allowing the Beermen to escape with the victory.

San Miguel had possession in the last 30 seconds but they could not get off a decent shot. With the shot clock winding down the Beermen got off a poor shot which barely hit the ring.

Alaska import Diamon Simpson ripped down the rebound but did not have the presence of mind to call a timeout immediately with still more than four seconds left in the game clock.

Simpson passed off to Cyrus Baguio near the midcourt line. Baguio also forgot to call a timeout immediately. He crossed the midcourt line then finally called his timeout with just 2.2 seconds left to go.

Despite the loss the Aces held on to a 3-2 lead and could still grab the title with a victory on Wednesday.

San Miguel point guard Denok Miranda drained an open jumper to push the Beermen to what seemed like a safe, 90-96, lead with just 2:15 left in the clock.

Baguio then sank a difficult triple and Simpson himself converted a free throw as Alaska came charging back into the game, 94-96, with 1:20 left.

San Miguel coach Gee Abanilla then called a timeout. While they could not convert a field goal attempt in those moments they were able to milk the clock allowing the Beermen to escape with the victory.

Freeman scored on a jumper to push the San Miguel Beermen to what seemed like a safe, 79-89, lead with still 8:01 to go.

The Aces came charging back igniting a 10-2 run capped by a triple by LA Tenorio, as the Aces cut the lead to only two points, 89-91, with still 3:17 left in the game.

The Aces trailed by 11 points at halftime, 39-50.

Diamon Simpson scored a game-high 29 to go with 18 rebounds, two assists and one block.

Joe Devance had 15 markers and nine rebounds.

Cyrus Baguio scored 14 points, grabbed three rebounds, issued eight assists, pulled off two steals and tallied one block

LA Tenorio had10 points, two rebounds and issued five assists.

Game 6 will be held Wednesday.

Abanilla called the shots for the Beermen in a move called by San Miguel Beer management as pahiyang. But Siot Tanquingcen continued to shout instructions from the sideline as did assistant coach Ato Agustin.

The scores:

Alaska 94 - Diamon Simpson 29, Joe Devance 15, Cyrus Baguio 14, LA Tenorio 10, Reynel Hugnatan 10, Mark Borboran 7, Tony Dela Cruz 6, Larry Fonacier 0, Sonny Thoss 0, Jeff Cariaso 0.

San Miguel 96 - Anthony Washington 19, Gabe Freeman 18, Arwind Santos 13, Denok Miranda 12, Dondon Hontiveros 11, Danny Ildefonso 10, Mick Pennisi 9, Alex Cabagnot 2, Joseph Yeo 2, Jonas Villanueva 0, Dorian Pena 0.

Quarter scores: 21-26, 39-50, 69-75, 94-96.