Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The Alaska Aces ended the Mahindra Floodbuster’s playoff hopes in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup after beating them 107-91 at the PhilSports Arena on Sunday.
Vic Manuel paced Alaska with 20 markers, while Calvin Abueva chipped in with 18 of his own.
After entering the second half staring down an 53-42 deficit with their Philippine Cup season on the line, the Mahindra Floodbuster went to work.
The Aces stretched their advantage to 66-52 halfway through the third frame, but it was undone by a sizzling Mahindra 20-4 run to tie the game at 72-apiece with 48 ticks left to play before the payoff period.
But Alaska just proved to be too much to handle for Mahindra, as they outclassed their opponents throughout the fourth quarter.
The victory was virtually sealed when Abueva buried a dagger three point jumper at the 3:41 mark to extend the Alaska lead to 96-81.
Mahindra could only trim down the deficit to 97-86, as they failed to stay in the running for a playoff berth.
Alex Mallari led the Floodbuster with a game-high 23 points in the losing effort.
The defeat also knocked out the NLEX Road Warriors and the Meralco Bolts from the Philippine Cup playoff race.
