Alaska stuns San Miguel in a come-from-behind victory in Game 3

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The Alaska Aces rallied from a 21-point deficit to defeat the San Miguel Beermen, 78-70, in Game 3 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals on at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.

Calvin Abueva had 16 points, 15 rebounds and five assists to lead the Aces in a 32-6 fourth quarter scoring. Sonny Thoss, who defended June Mar Fajardo well in the fourth quarter, added 10 points while JVee Casio had 11 points to compliment the performance of Abueva.

Alaska’s defense clobbered the offensive attacks of the San Miguel in the fourth quarter. The Aces contained Fajardo in getting the basket at the post while their offense was making the points.

With the defense stopping the Beermen’s offense, the Aces pulled of a 20-1 run, which Dondon Hontiveros drilled in back-to-back three pointers. The Beermen tried to shake themselves from a slow start in the final quarter but the momentum of the Aces couldn’t be averted.

Ping Exciminiano delivered a fastbreak layup but fouled and ended up in two free throws. Exciminiano made the two free throws to grab the lead, 66-65.

With headband to protect the injured head incurred in Game 2, Arwind Santos scored 20 points as he led San Miguel in the first three quarters.

Fajardo addes 13 points and Alex Cabagnot scored seven points for the Beermen. However, in the fourth quarter, these players couldn’t make their shots.

“At some point in the third quarter I told coach Louie, ‘they were just really beating us. We got to change things up,’” coach Alex Compton said. “They were really beating us. They were playing great. They had a really good game plan. They looked sharp.”

The Aces allowed 27 and 29 points in the second and third quarter trailing 18 points, 64-46, to start the fourth.

The Aces have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series of the Philippine Cup.

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