ALASKA REPEATS OVER SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE
Alaska shrugged off a slow start and outscored San Mig Super Coffee in each of the last three quarters as the Aces repeated over the Mixers, 88-75, in the PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Friday night.
Down 16-22 after the first quarter, the Aces cranked up to pull even at 35 at the half, roared on to race ahead, 62-55, in the third then stepped up even more to win by a big margin.
Repeating their 84-80 conquest of the Mixers in their initial matchup, the Aces bumped off their victims at sixth place in the team standings with a 4-6 win-loss record.
Alaska foiled San Mig Coffee’s bid for a third straight win and instead handed the Mixers a sixth loss against three wins.
And thus the Mixers moved down to joint seventh place with the Meralco Bolts, just half-a-game up on ninth-running Barako Bull (3-7) and a game ahead of tailender Air21 (2-8).
Curiously, the Aces are now 6-2 since losing all their first nine games with former coach Tim Cone and his B-Meg/San Mig team.
“They have some guys who are sick and we took advantage of that. We took good care of basketball,” said Alaska coach Luigi Trillo.
“Our first group was there, then our guys in our second group also gave us tremendous boost. It’s a good collective team effort,” Trillo also said.
The Aces outworked and outplayed a San Mig side lacking much intensity and energy on the sidelining of Marc Pingris (with bruised knee).
“They’re just a different team without Ping,” said Trillo.
With no Pingris to contend with, Gabby Espinas frolicked with 15 points, including the Aces’ first eight markers that touched off their breakaway from a 35-all standoff at the half.
With the Aces seizing command, 62-55, after the third, Aldrech Ramos, RJ Jazul and Sonny Thoss took over to sustain their romp.
Thoss finished with a team-high 16 points with Jazul and Ramos combining for 18.
Calvin Abueva and Cyrus Baguio provided the firepower for the team early on and they wound up with 15 and 14, respectively. (SB)
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
