By Rey Joble

IN a best-of-seven playoff series, a second wind is important for any team.

Last night, the Alaska Aces squandered a huge second-quarter lead, but recovered their bearings in the crucial moments of the game to hammer out a 92-76 triumph over the Sta. Lucia Realtors to take the headstart in the KFC-Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Aces posted a 10-point advantage, 29-19, at the start of the second period, but the Realtors wiped out that lead quickly behind a resilient pressure defense to get back into the contest.

With ace Alaska player Willie Miller being grounded by an airtight defense alternately put up by Bitoy Omolon and Denok Miranda, coach Tim Cone?s wards had a difficult time putting away the defending champion Realtors.

The two-time Most Valuable Player was held down to just two points in the first 24 minutes of action and Cone and his coaching staff were left to find a solution.

The answer was found when the Aces buckled down to work on the defensive end. They held the Realtors without a field goal in an eight-minute stretch of the pivotal fourth to turn the tightly fought game into an ugly rout.

?Sta. Lucia did a great job of pressuring us in the backcourt. We were having difficulties bringing the ball up, but the real story there was our ability to match up their intensity on the defensive end. Willie struggled tonight, but he never gave up and when the alarm sounded for us to play tough defense, Willie?s offense then began to pick up,? said Cone.

Sonny Thoss and LA Tenorio triggered a 10-0 run as the Aces established an 81-71 lead, still 5:19 left to play.

But the Realtors couldn?t recover from there as the Aces? stone-walled defense hit them.

With a 1-0 lead in the race-to-four series, Cone didn?t divulge whether momentum is now on his team?s side. But he expects the series to be as tight as the one they played in the same conference last season.

?A 1-0 lead in a best-of-seven series doesn?t mean something special. We were able to win our first game of the best-of-seven against Sta. Lucia last year and eventually, we lost the series. They will come back that?s for sure. They?ve got that sort of pride being the defending champions,? said Cone.