February 23, 2018

Casio, Magat deliver as Aces seal Top Six spot

Even with a badly depleted lineup, Alaska Milk found a way to check its slide and seal a spot in the Top Six - thanks largely to Jvee Casio and Marion Magat.

Casio came through with a career-first triple-double job while Magat delivered a breakthrough game as the Aces beat out the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 99-95, in a gut-wrenching battle for a sure twice-to-beat incentive in the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals.

Jeron Teng, Kevin Racal, Vic Manuel, Simon Enciso and Sonny Thoss had their significant contributions as the Aces bucked the absence of Calvin Abueva, Carl Bryan Cruz and Chris Banchero to end their elims stint with seven wins against four losses.

Casio, however, stood out with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a superb triple-double effort highlighted by two key free throws that made it 98-95 with 11.4 ticks left.

The E-Painters had their chance to force overtime but Mark Borboran missed a three-pointer in the dying seconds, and thus ROS got stalled at fifth place at 5-4.

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Magat was a tremendous help with a career-high 14 points that went with six rebounds, two assists and one block against two errors in 29 minutes of action.

Maverick Ahanmisi had his own sterling game with 23 points that went with five rebounds, five assists and five steals as he led the ROS mighty stand in a nip-and-tuck game marked by 33 lead changes and nine deadlocks.

"Awesome game. Playoff basketball," said Alaska coach Alex Compton of the tough game where no team enjoyed a lead of over eight points at the Big Dome.

"Ahanmisi gave me 800 gray hairs. But I appreciate the effort of my guys to weather the storm," Compton also said.

The wonderful games of Casio and Magat were not lost on the Alaska bench chieftain.

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"Jvee is our leader and we really needed this game after two straight losses. Needing to win, Jvee stepped up. Getting 10 rebounds is a lot of heart," said Compton.

On Magat, Compton said: "I'm through the roof happy for Magat. He's a big contributor for us in this game." (SB)