Alaska secures QF incentive

IMPORT Eugene Phelps of Phoenix blocks the layup of JV Casio of Alaska during their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup game yesterday at the Cuneta Astrodome. ROMAN PROSPERO Alaska eliminated Phoenix, 114-91, to secure the second seed and one of the two twice-to-beat incentives in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup yesterday at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

Vic Manuel, Jeron Teng and returning import Diamon Simpson spearheaded the attack as the Aces quickly jumped to a 34-17 lead in the first quarter to rip the game wide open.

Although the Fuel Masters inched closer to within nine points early in the third period, 44-53, the Aces uncorked a booming 20-9 bomb to erect a comfortable 73-53 lead.

With the victory, the Aces wrapped up their campaign at second place with an impressive 8-3 win-loss record behind top-ranked Rain or Shine with 9-1.

The Elasto Painters and the Aces will be armed with twice-to-beat advantage against the bottom two seeds in the eight-team quarterfinals set to kick off on Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Alaska’s win also formalized the entry of Ginebra (5-5), Globalport (5-5) and Magnolia (5-5) in the playoffs with still a game remaining in their respective schedule.

The three squads followed Rain or Shine, Alaska, Talk ‘N Text, Meralco and San Miguel in the eight-team playoff picture, but will still gun for much-needed wins for playoff positioning to avoid the bottom two seeds with a twice-to-win handicap.

“I’m really happy that we played this way even though we switched import at the last minute,” said head coach Alex Compton after tapping Simpson two days ago in lieu of Antonio Campbell, who is set to play for the Orlando Magic in the NBA Summer League

“It was good to get a win heading into the playoffs.”

Simpson, who towed Alaska to the 2010 Fiesta Conference championship, had 18 points, 19 rebounds and four blocks while Teng contributed seven points, two rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes of action.

While Simpson and Teng contributed big time, it was conference’s breakout player Vic Manuel who spearheaded the attack anew with an efficient 28 points, nine rebounds and two steals in just 19 minutes of play.

It was Manuel’s 10th straight 20-point game this conference to cement his case as not only the best players in Alaska but in the entire PBA.