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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
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04
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26
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2024
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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
04
26
2024
Seeing itself trail Blackwater, 15-13 late in the first quarter, Alaska didn’t need much motivation to put its foot on the gas pedal. The Aces knew they have seen enough.
What followed was a methodical beatdown of the Elite, starting with a 13-2 tear to end the first period which ended in a 26-point annihilation for Alaska, 106-80, to open its campaign in the 2015 PBA Governors’ Cup Tuesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
It is likely the biggest win margin in Alaska franchise history for a conference debut. Since at least the last 25 years, the Aces’ previous biggest win to start their campaign in a conference or tournament was a 110-85 rout of San Miguel Beer in the Governors Cup of 1996, the year Alaska won the Grand Slam.
With Alaska acquiring the services of Romeo Travis, the Akron, Ohio native didn’t really have to replicate the game of his ex-AAU teammate Lebron James as the Aces coasted to the easy victory. He finished with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
“No surprises for me today. He’s solid, smart, a good teammate, a good team player, a smart defender,” said head coach Alex Compton of Travis. “He’s not one of those guys who will be wowing the crowd with 55-point games, taking step-back threes. He’s a guy who frequently makes good decisions and I think it’s a valuable trait.”
Chris Banchero was also solid in the game with his 13 markers, six boards, and three assists, while JVee Casio tallied 13 points.
Despite the big win, Compton believes that it was his guys’ mentality to be relentless which allowed them to take a big edge early and get a lead as big as 35, 81-46, late in the third.
“Our guys played hard so they definitely broke a sweat,” he said. “It was a good start for us. We tried to assert ourself defensively for 48 minutes and the guys did a great job coming out. The effort was there. It was solid and they played really hard.”
Compton also defended Alaska’s choice of not fielding an Asian reinforcement, saying that the team is putting its premium on developing its future core.
The Aces are one of six teams which don’t have an Asian import in the conference-opening rosters.
“I think right now, our focus is developing our guys. We’re looking at the bigger picture,” he said. “Our whole unit, we want to be able to develop our players and give them more minutes. In the big-picture, long-run kind of thing, it may benefit us more. It’s possible that we could suffer for not having one, but we just want to focus on developing our guys.”
Returning import Marcus Douthit led Blackwater with 28 points and 16 rebounds in the game which was the most lopsided in the PBA to start a conference or tournament since San Miguel Beer routed the Cebuana Lhuillier-RP Team to begin the 2003 Invitationals. (RL)
The scores:
ALASKA 106 – Travis 18, Casio 13, Banchero 13, Baguio 12, Abueva 9, Jazul 7, Manuel 6, Dela Rosa 6, Exciminiano 6, Menk 6, Thoss 4, Baclao 2, Hontiveros 2, Eman 2, Dela Cruz 0.
BLACKWATER 80 – Douthit 28, Gamalinda 10, Salvacion 9, Cervantes 7, Bulawan 5, Timberlake 4, Reyes 4, Erram 4, Heruela 4, Acuna 3, Faundo 2, Celiz 0, Laure 0.
Quarterscores: 26-17, 55-41, 85-58, 106-80.
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