NO goodbye for Alaska Milk yet.

The seventh-seeded Aces pulled the rug from under No. 2 seed NLEX, 93-79, to keep their hopes alive in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Alaska import Mark St. Fort, Jeron Teng and Abu Tratter came through with superb games for the Aces, who forced a do-or-die quarterfinal encounter against the Road Warriors on Saturday.

St. Fort finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds.Teng added 16 points and Tratter contributed 12 points and 10 boards for Alaska, which needed to beat NLEX twice as the No. 7 team in the quarterfinals.

“We did not want this to be our last game,” said Alaska coach Jeffrey Cariaso.

“We’re closer to seeing what could possibly be the end. That in itself is a challenge and a motivation for all of us on its own,” added Cariaso, referring to the Alaska management’s decision to leave the PBA after almost 36 years in Asia’s first play-for-pay league.

New import Cameron Clark had 25 points and 16 rebounds in his debut for NLEX.

Kevin Alas added 17 points and Don Trollano had 12 markers for the Yeng Guiao-coached Road Warriors.

Later, defending champion Barangay Ginebra also averted outright elimination with a 104-92 victory over twice-to-beat TNT.

Justin Brownlee finished with a double double of 38 points and 12 rebounds and Scottie Thompson added 23 points, 15 rebounds.and eight assists for Ginebra, which squandered a 19-point lead in the second quarter but recovered to frustrate TNT.

Japeth Aguilar added 21 points for the Gin King, who defeated the Tropang Giga for the first time since winning the 2020 Philippine Cup during the Clark bubble.

Ginebra and TNT will meet again on Saturday

The scores:

First game
Alaska (93) — Saint Fort 17, Teng 16, Tratter 12, Tolomia 10, DiGregorio 9, Taha 9, Ahanmisi 6, Bulanadi 5, Ilagan 3, Racal 3, Faundo 3, Stockton 0, Adamos 0.
NLEX (79) — Clark 25, Alas 17, Trollano 12, Rosales 7, Paniamogan 5, Quinahan 4, Nieto 3, Chua 2, Ighalo 2, Soyud 2, Miranda 0, Varilla 0
Quarterscores: 12-26, 40-38, 64-55, 93-79.

Second game
Barangay Ginebra (104) – Brownlee 38, Thompson 23, J. Aguilar 21, Tenorio 7, Pinto 6, Standhardinger 6, Chan 3, Caperal 0, Onwubere 0, Devance 0.
TNT (92) — Fuller 22, Rosario 20, M. Williams 19, Pogoy 12, K. Williams 12, Castro 5, Reyes 2, Erram 0, Khobuntin 0, Heruela 0, Montalbo 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.
Quarterscores: 28-14; 50-45; 71-70; 104-92.