In an even more devastating display of poise and power, the Alaska Aces whacked the defending champion San Miguel Beermen, 94-90, Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Finals of the PBA Fiesta Conference. This time, Alaska completely dominated San Miguel from start to finish unlike in Game 1 when the Aces fell behind at the start before unleashing their full might in the second half. Confounding the cynics, Alaska took Game 2 handily even with playmaker LA Tenorio playing only limited minutes due to a high fever and a bum stomach and with starting center Sonny Thoss still unable to play due to a second-degree ankle sprain. Shining incandescent like the gem of his name, Diamon Simpson once again led the Aces with a team-high 29 points and 17 rebounds, completely outclassing his San Miguel counterpart Gabe Freeman who could only manage to squeeze out 13 points. Ironically, Simpson lost out to Freeman during last Friday's Best Import Award. Simpson fouled out after scoring four straight points from the free-throw line to put the Aces on top, 91-88, with 29 seconds left in the game. Overall, he finished 12-of-14 from the 15-foot line and scored 18 of his total output in the second half. Counting its last two games in the semifinals against Talk N Text Tropang Texters, Alaska has now won four straight games. The Aces aimed to extend their winning streak to five when they tangle anew with the Beermen in Game 3 of the Finals Wednesday. Under pressure to equalize the series Sunday, the Beermen simply buckled down. They were down by just 2 points, 90-91, after Freeman sank two free throws off Simpson's last foul. But they threw away their last two plays. After Tony De La Cruz nailed two free throws to put Alaska on top again by 3 points, 93-90, the Beermen turned the ball over after Joe DeVance deflected a Jay Washington pass, leading to a split from the foul line by Cyrus Baguio, 94-90. The Beermen then collapsed completely as Joseph Yeo's desperation three-point attempt failed to even touch the rim. De Vance scored 14 points, while Baguio and Dela Cruz chipped in 12 each. Despite his health woes, Tenorio added six points.Yeo paced San Miguel with a personal conference-high 20 points, shooting 6-of-9 three-point shots. Alaska head coach Tim Cone was all praise for his boys after the game. “We didn't expect this (2-0 lead),” he said. “The game was high quality. We did a great job of not panicking. We didn't buckle under their great shot-making,” he added. But Cone remains wary of San Miguel going into Game 3. “I've lost 2-0 leads, I've lost 3-1 leads, I've lost leads you can possibly imagine,” he said. “We've got to come out with a lot of energy and be aggressive in Game Three.” In PBA history, at least six teams in 35 occasions were able to hurdle and win a series even when down 0
