ANTIPOLO CITY — After two failed attempts, Alaska finally succeeded.

Former two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) Willie Miller nailed the go-ahead jumper with 12.2 seconds left to power the Aces to a 95-94 win against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to clinch the automatic berth in the Final Four of the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup Friday night at the Ynares Sports Center here.

The 5-foot-11 Miller finished with 23 points along with 12 rebounds as Alaska claimed its second outright semis berth in the last three conferences and third in the last six. Overall, it was the fourth time for the franchise to enter the Final Four outright.

Alaska finished the classification phase with a 13-5 win-loss card, the same record of fellow semis-bound San Miguel Beer.

However, because of their 2-0 record to the Beermen this all-Filipino conference, the Aces will be the No. 1 team in the semi-finals and will play in the best-of-seven series against winner between the No. 4 and No. 5 teams.

“Obviously we didn’t handle it well, we didn’t practice well... we came out soft in games. We looked kampante. We’re tight. It’s sudden pressure, that’s exactly why you don’t turn the switch off,” Alaska coach Tim Cone said.

“The monkey’s off our backs, hope we learned our lessons, we’re going to practice, step up more and try to get back to being Alaska,” he said.

Though it was a no-bearing game for Rain or Shine, Cone commended the team owned by Terry Que and Raymund Yu for coming out strong. Sol Mercado scored a career-best 35 points with four rebounds and three assists.

The 6-foot-1 Mercado had a chance to win the game after Miller’s jumper but he failed to launch a decent shot when he penetrated inside the shaded lane as time expired. They finished the classification with a record of 4-14, and will play Burger King in a knockout game of the wildcard either on Sunday or Wednesday at the same venue.

LA Tenorio and Joe Devance, a former Rain or Shine player, collected 15 points apiece.

The scores:
First Game
Alaska 95 — Miller 23, Devance 15, Tenorio 15, Hugnatan 11, Thoss 10, dela Cruz 9, Fonacier 6, Ferriols 4, Cariaso 2, Borboran 0.
Rain or Shine 94 — Mercado 35, Reyes 14, Chan 12, Dulay 12, Norwood 5, Cruz 4, Arana 4, Arellano 2, Laure 2, Hrabak 2, Telan 2, Ibanes 0.
Quarters: 22-24, 47-53, 72-75, 95-94.