Aces quell rally, make it 4 in row

Alaska kept its domination of Rain or Shine in their last nine meetings, scoring a 91-84 victory last night and stretching its win run to four in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Willie Miller took charge for the Aces at crunchtime as they held off the Elasto Painters to keep their unblemished record and their supremacy over the Asian Coatings franchise since 2006.

Miller personally doused cold water on the Rain or Shine rally as the Aces stayed on a roll, remaining unbeaten dating back to the pre-season where they swept four games.

“We were threatened by their comeback because they were able to break our defense,” said Miller.

“If you’re going to beat this team, you have to beat them early in the conference because they’re going to get better as the tournament progresses,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone, expressing a big relief after his wards thwarted Rain or Shine’s searing rally from a 19-point deficit.

Alaska is the only team Rain or Shine hasn’t beaten since moving over to the pros in 2006. The Aces beat the Elasto Painters by an average margin of 12.4 points the last two seasons.

“No doubt we have the best closer in Willie Miller. If you want to close out, give the ball to Willie,” said Cone of the two-time MVP winner, who tossed in seven of his game-high 21 points in the last three minutes of play.

The Elasto Painters wiped out the Aces’ 68-49 spread, tying the count at 78-all but Miller took charge for Alaska, banging away clutch shots to stop the Rain or Shine charge.

Rob Wainwright scattered 11 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Rain or Shine assault from a 58-74 deficit after the third period.

The Elasto Painters, however, ran out of gas and failed to complete what could have been a big upset. The team suffered a second straight loss after a 2-0 start in the season.

“I thought we defended them very well through three quarters then let up a little bit. They picked up energy and we lost some,” said Cone.

Most of the Aces might have lost steam but not Miller who led all scorers on 8-of-18 field-goal shooting while pulling down 10 rebounds, making two assists and two steals.