ALASKA STAYS UNBEATEN, KEEPS GINEBRA WINLESS
TUBOD, Lanao del Norte — Alaska Milk kept its hot, unbeaten run while Barangay Ginebra stayed on a rut despite the arrival of a new import.
The Aces came out well prepared against the Kings and high-touted new reinforcement Vernon Macklin, hacking out an 84-69 victory in their PBA Commissioner’s Cup road game at the Mindanao Civic Center here Saturday night.
Robert Dozier put in a game-high 21 points and the Aces put together a solid game on both ends as they notched a fourth straight win in the mid-season tourney.
“Their import seems a bit tired. We did a good job of making things hard for him,” said Alaska coach Luigi Trillo.
“We had a great collective defensive effort. We played great ‘D’ on Caguioa. He is the barometer for them. Luckily it worked for us in the end,” Trillo also said.
The Aces worked on an efficient defense that kept Macklin from getting into the groove.
Dozier and his teammates held Ginebra to 15 points in the final quarter and to a single field goal in the last four minutes, and subsequently kept the Kings winless in four games.
Alaska also ended Ginebra’s four-game roll on the road. Before the game, the Kings had won seven of their last eight out-of-town assignments.
Macklin, who took over from Herbert Hill, gained some momentum in the third period, scoring seven straight points – two baskets on rim-rattling jams – as Ginebra closed in on the Aces at 53-54.
The Aces, however, quickly reestablished control, sitting on a 61-54 cushion at the end of the third and going on to keep the Kings at bay to the finish.
More aggressive, the Aces led by 10, 31-21, before settling for a 43-39 halftime lead.
The Aces attacked the rim ferociously, rewarding them with more free-throw opportunities. Alaska was 9-of-16 as against Ginebra’s mere 3-of-6 foul shots in the first half.
Macklin took some time to get going, missing all his first seven field attempts in the Phoenix Fuel-sponsored tiff.
The Kings won the rebounding battle, 55-46, but couldn’t get their offensive game going, struggling with a 32-percent clip as against Alaska’s 47-percent marksmanship. (SB)
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