The Scores:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 19) – The Alaska Aces bid farewell to the PBA after a 96-80 loss against the NLEX Road Warriors in their quarterfinals affair on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
As NLEX clinched the last semifinals berth in their victory, Alaska will exit the league after 35 seasons, achieving 31 finals appearances, 14 championships, as well as 10 coaches and countless players who made their own mark in Philippine basketball.
RELATED: Alaska Aces retire from PBA
The Aces did their best in the first quarter to level with the Road Warriors, but the Yeng Guiao-coached squad pulled away in the second canto with import Cameron Clark doing the damage in the paint.
In the second half, NLEX became more assertive in converting their shots to increase their lead to as high as 24 points in the fourth quarter.
Clark led the Road Warriors in scoring with 24 points, while center JR Quinahan added 12 markers off the bench.
For Alaska, import Mark Saint Fort notched 14 points and Jeron Teng added 13 markers in the last PBA game of the illustrious franchise.
NLEX will face defending Governors’ Cup champions Barangay Ginebra in the best-of-five semifinals beginning on Wednesday.
NLEX 96 – Clark 24, Quinahan 12, Rosales 12, Chua 10, Nieto 10, Trollano 9, Alas 7, Soyud 7, Varilla 3, Ighalo 2, Murrell 0, Paniamogan 0, Semerad 0
ALASKA 80 – Saint Fort 14, Teng 13, DiGregorio 11, Tolomia 11, Bulanadi 8, Taha 8, Tratter 6, Ilagan 5, Ahanmisi 4, Racal 0, Faundo 0
Quarterscores: 21-20, 46-31, 71-52, 96-80
