ALASKA DEALS MERALCO 41-POINT BEATING
TAKE your pick of a scary movie for Halloween: It, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street or Alaska vs. Meralco in the PBA Philippine Cup?
Good choice.
No way, after all, can Jason or Freddie Krueger or Pennywise the Clown compete with last night’s blood-curdling massacre.
After scoring the game’s first seven points, the Aces went on to methodically dismantle the Bolts with a relentless defensive assault that opened up vast offensive opportunities, with Alaska virtually converting them all, 105-64, Friday and quickly turning the battle of co-leaders into a rout at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The lead was up at 25-15 after 12 minutes, 54-37 at halftime, and 76-52 at three-quarters end. Displaying a fluidity, aggressiveness and intelligence long unseen, the Aces overwhelmed the Bolts like a torrential wave, burying Meralco from start to finish under tons of baskets that rained down without letup.
The bench scoring alone was decisive, with Alaska’s non-starters pouring 78 points, outclassing the entire Meralco team by 14 points.
Alaska roared to its third straight win, adding Meralco, the conqueror of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, to its list of hapless victims after Grand Slam champion Purefoods and Talk ‘N Text. The Bolts, meanwhile, fell to 2-1, their short string of overtime wins nipped at the bud in devastating fashion.
The 41-point win was the Aces’ biggest win margin in the last 14 years, or since a 119-71 rout of Tanduay in the 2000 Commissioner’s Cup battle for third place.
For Meralco, it was its second worse defeat in fanchise history, or since 139-95 rout at the hands of Rain or Shine on Octoer 30, 2011 in the Philippine Cup three seasons ago.
Alaska head coach Alex Compton swiftly brushed aside suggestions the Bolts’ motivation was sparked by somebody familiar on the Meralco bench – former Aces head coach Luigi Trillo, who stepped down under tumultuous circumstances in the Governors’ Cup last season and replaced by Compton.
“Absolutely not,” said Compton when asked whether he or his players were sending Trillo a message by blowing the Bolts off the court. “Coach Luigi is very good friend of mine and there was none of that. It was just one of those games when the guys just kept making their shots. Our guys battled hard. Stuff like this just happens.”
The Aces hit 58 percent of their shots, converting 10 of 22 three-pointers.
Vic Manuel tormented the Bolts frontline for 17 points, while Dondon Hontiveros added 16 with four 3-pointers, rookie Chris Banchero 11 and Calvin Abueva, the hero for Alaska in the Talk ‘N Text win, 10 points.
“We played fantastic. Our guys battle hard and the stuff just happened,” said Compton.
The Bolts were a sorry mess, missing 48 of their 71 shots, including all but 2 of their 18 three-point attempts.
The 41-point margin came as some sort of vindication for Compton and the Aces, who were bombed almost to extinction by Rain or Shine, 123-72, last conference in only the fourth game for Compton since taking over the helm.
Noted for deflecting credit away from him and directing it to his players, Compton made little of its whooping winning margin.
“We were in the receiving end of one such game not too long ago, but we tried to keep that out of our minds,” he said. “Was that 51-point loss a motivation today? Absolutely not.”
Neither were they, Compton said, trying to show up Meralco’s new coach Norman Black, who suffered his worst defeat as head coach in the PBA since at least the last 22 years.
“We always try to respect the game and our opponents and coach Norman is a great coach with a lot of championships; we just got them on a bad night,” Compton said. “But they will bounce back strong, and I really wouldn’t want to play them next.”
That would be the NLEX Road Warriors, who the Bolts play on Wednesday, while Alaska faces similarly unbeaten San Miguel Beer next. (WJRHT)
The scores:
ALASKA 105 – Manuel 17, Hontiveros 16, Banchero 11, Abueva 10, Baguio 8, Jazul 8, Exciminiano 7, Eman 6, Dela Rosa 6, Thoss 5, Bugia 4, Vanlandingham 3, Dela Cruz 2, Casio 2.
MERALCO 64 – Hodge 16, Anthony 11, Dillinger 9, Hugnatan 6, Buenafe 5, Ildefonso 4, David 4, Morrison 3, Wilson 2, Cortez 2, Ferriols 2, Atkins 0, Sena 0, Guevarra 0.
Quarterscores: 25-15, 54-37, 76-52, 105-64.
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