After close win, Aces on verge of Fiesta Cup title

Blown out the last time, Alaska responded the way champion teams do.

The Aces didn't allow the San Miguel Beermen to dictate the tempo of Friday's Game 4 and instead kept the entire match close to complete a 90-83 win and move within one game of claiming the PBA Fiesta Cup championship. A big 16-5 run by Alaska made the difference in a Friday the 13th game played at the Astrodome, as the Aces turned a 67-66 deficit into an 82-72 lead in the final three minutes en route to a commanding 3-1 series lead in the best-of-seven Finals. Another victory in Sunday's Game 5 at the Araneta Coliseum will give the General Milling franchise its 13th league crown. "It was one of the toughest games I've been involved in," admitted Alaska coach Tim Cone, whose team suffered a 96-80 rout in Game 3. "That was intense. But we were confident coming in. We know how to respond from bad losses, and we did that today. "Can we wrap it up on (Sunday)? The opportunity is there and we obviously will go for it. I hope that (Saturday's) practice will be our last (for the season)." History is definitely on Alaska's side. Only one team in the PBA's 35-year history managed to come back from a 3-1 Finals deficit. Ginebra accomplished the feat against Shell in the 1991 First Conference. San Miguel mentor Siot Tanquingcen sees the mountain his team needs to scale, but insists the series is far from over. "I don't think it's over," said Tanquingcen. "Yes, we're down 3-1, but I look at this as an opportunity God gave us to show our true character. It's not an ideal situation, but I know that we're playing for something here." This marks the first time since the 2000 Philippine Cup that Alaska holds a 3-1 lead in the finals. The Aces won that over Purefoods in five games. In contrast, San Miguel has never won a best-of-seven series after being down 0-2. The last two times the Beermen were down 0-2 in the Finals – in the 1998 and 2001 Commissioner’s Cup – they managed to even it up before losing Games 5 and 6. LA Tenorio topscored for Alaska with 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, Diamon Simpson was limited to 14 markers but grabbed 18 boards and Cyrus Baguio added 15 points. Gabe Freeman had 28 points and 17 rebounds for the Beermen, who also got 15 from Arwind Santos and 11 from Danny Ildefonso. But Best Player of the Conference Jay Washington struggled big-time going 2-of-12 from the field to end up with only five points. San Miguel actually went 2-of-9 and committed three turnovers during Alaska's fourth-quarter scoring rampage that eventually spelled their downfall. – JVP, HGS, GMANews.TV