Aces vent ire on Dyip
Games tomorrow (MOA Arena) 4:30 p.m. – Phoenix Pulse vs NLEX 7 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs NorthPort
Alaska Milk took to heart its losing debut against Rain or Shine Sunday, and vented its ire on Columbian Dyip, pulling off a 94-72 rout in the PBA Philippine Cup at the MOA Arena in Pasay City last night.
Showing their old grit and spunk, the Aces utterly dominated the Dyip even with their badly decimated lineup minus Vic Manuel, Jvee Casio, Simon Enciso, Kevin Racal and Yutien Andrada.
“We were talking and we’re saying Rain or Shine and Columbian Dyip play almost the same style of game, and we have a good opportunity to atone for our loss to Rain or Shine,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton.
“Our guys all played very hard and I appreciate their effort. They’re energetic pretty much the whole game,” Compton also said, lauding especially reserve big men Jake Pascual and Carl Bryan Cruz who stepped up in the absence of Manuel.
Pascual came through with a double-double performance with 13 points and the same number of rebounds while Cruz top scored with 20 markers and added nine boards as the Aces rebounded strong from their 72-85 loss to the E-Painters.
“We’re challenge to step up as we’re down to 10 players. Bawat possession mahalaga,” said Pascual.
Starting point guard Chris Banchero scored 10 points while Ping Exciminiano, Davon Potts, rookie Mer Jesper Ayaay played key roles off the bench like Pascual as Alaska dealt Columbian a third straight loss and fourth in six games in all.
Alex Cabagnot scored 19 points in his return from a four-game layoff and June Mar Fajardo had his usual double-double numbers with 20 markers and 21 rebounds as San Miguel Beer arrested its two-game slide with a 93-79 win over Blackwater later in the night.
The Beermen improved to 3-3 while the Elite dropped to 1-4.
“Good win for going to our big game against Magnolia (Sunday). Only two teams get a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals. Mathematically, we still have the chance, but we’ll first focus our attention on Magnolia,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
The scores: First Game Alaska 94 – Cruz 20, Pascual 13, Exciminiano 12, Banchero 10, Potts 9, Teng 8, Ayaay 8, Baclao 6, Thoss 4, Galliguez 4.
Columbian 72 – Perez 15, Corpuz 12, Khobuntin 8, Cabrera 6, Reyes 5, Escoto 5, Gabriel 5, Cahilig 4, Camson 4, Calvo 4, McCarthy 2, Tabi 2, Agovida 0. Quarterscores: 20-13, 46-36, 68-50, 94-72 Second Game San Miguel 93 – Fajardo 20, Cabagnot 19, Romeo 17, Ross 14, Nabong 7, Lassiter 6, Santos 4, Tubid 2, Lanete 2, De Ocampo 2, Mamaril 0, Zamar 0, Vigil 0.
Blackwater 79 – Sumang 17, Digregorio 14, Maliksi 13, Javier 9, Tratter 9, Desiderio 4, Eriobu 4, Sena 0, Cortez 0, Palma 0, Dario 0.
Quarterscores: 19-29, 44-41, 74-64, 93-79