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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – Alaska Aces turned up the heat in the fourth quarter to defeat Kia Picanto 102-94 in the PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Calvin Abueva led the way with double-double 26 points and 15 rebounds for Aces, which tallied its third consecutive win to improve to eighth place (3-6 win-loss).
Import LaDontae Henton and Jvee Casio chipped in 20 apiece while Chris Exciminiano and Chris Banchero had 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Down by as much as 10 points entering the fourth quarter, Exciminiano scored three straight baskets to tow Aces to within 79-82. Casio then converted back-to-back triples to tie the count at 84-all.
Both teams exchanged leads before Aces surged 91-88 on a Casio 3-pointer. After Picanto tied the match at 91-all, Abueva gave Aces a 94-91 lead on a 3-point play but was quickly tied by Picanto on a Geron Johnson triple.
Another 3-pointer by Henton pushed Aces 97-94 before they sealed the victory with back-to-back conversions from Casio.
“It’s really tough to come out in the situation they’re in … but (Picanto coach) Chris (Gavina) squeezed so much out of his guys,” Aces head coach Alex Compton said. “We just had a couple of bounces going our way.”
Johnson finished with 39 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, while Philip Paniamogan added 12 markers, including two triples, for Picanto, which remained winless./PN
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