With Rossel Ellis and Sonny Thoss delivering clutch baskets, the Alaska Aces pulled off a 100-99 squeaker over the San Miguel Beermen Wednesday night in Game One of their 2007 Talk n Text PBA Fiesta Conference best-of-seven showdown at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Aces were aided by the late-game blunder of San Miguel import Galen Young, who passed up the opportunity to take the shot when the game was on the line.

Danny Ildefonso, the recipient of Young's pass, misfired a 15-footer from the right flank in the closing seconds, allowing the Aces to escape with the win.

Young completed a triple-double job with 27 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists but it went down the drain as Ildefonso's shot rimmed out then the buzzer sounded with Ellis in control of the loose ball.

"I think our defense worked in the fourth quarter and most specially down the stretch. It boiled down to one final play and we won it on a defensive stop," said Alaska coach Tim Cone.

"It was tough and characteristically a San Miguel game. They fought back and fought back as they've been doing the last few games. We're ready for it but couldn't prevent it with Rosell getting into foul trouble," Cone added.

For a while, it did appear that San Miguel's magical ride would continue as the Beermen again battled back from a big deficit.

But both teams went without a basket in the last 1:42 of play, and the Aces went on to preserve a one-point decision for the crucial head-start in the series.

The Beermen missed a total of four attempts and committed one error in that stretch.

Earlier, the Beermen unraveled a 21-7 tear to erase a 12-point deficit and surge ahead at 96-94 with still four minutes left to play.

But the Aces refused to totally crack up, going to Ellis and Thoss as they stayed in the thick of the fight then regained the lead to stay at 100-99 on a semi-hook by Ellis of Young.

Ellis led all scorers with 28 points while also coming through with 15 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks in 42 solid minutes of action.

Thoss added 19, Jeffrey Cariaso 14 and Nic Belasco 12. Willie Miller struggled for only five points in 33 minutes of play.

"San Miguel did a good job keeping Willie out of his comfort zone. We have to figure out to solve it. We can't afford Willie checked throughout this series," said Cone. *www.pba.ph

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