source: Nelson Beltran | philstar.com
Alaska Milk continued to play as one solid unit and repeated over Barako Bull, 99-88, to keep the solo lead at the start of the second round of the KFC PBA Philippine Cup elimination phase at the Ynares Arena in Pasig last night.
Sustaining the momentum of their two-game closing run in the first round, the Aces stayed alone on top with a 9-1 win-loss card.
The Energy Boosters put up a tough stand in the first half but fell behind by a large margin in the third period and ran out of time in their endgame chase, tumbling down to ninth place with a 2-8 record.
The Aces had another steady showing from their starters and second unit in a balanced scoring the Energy Boosters failed to match.
The Alaska reserves pummeled their Barako Bull counterparts in a crucial stretch bridging the last two quarters to open leads of over 20 points.
The Energy Boosters waged a chase at endgame but the best they could do was trim the gap at 88-93. Aris Dimaunahan hastened their downfall with two missed free throws then misfired a three-pointer.
Arwind Santos came through with another monstrous performance against his former team Burger King, and streaking San Miguel continued to get going, repeating over the Whoppers, 100-85, in thefirst game.
Santos collected 27 points, 12 rebounds, six blocks and four assists in a follow-up to his 28-point and 18-rebound showing in hisfirst meeting with his former teammates last Oct. 21.
Lordy Tugade, Denok Miranda and Olsen Racela also piled up key numbers as the Beermen duplicated their 117-99 rout of the Whoppers in their previous tiff and, improved their win-loss record to 8-2.
As in their last game, the Whoppers came out strong but tapered off at the finish, suffering a seventh loss against three wins.
San Miguel has actually beaten the Lina Group franchise in all their last nine games in the all-Filipino tourney. The Beermen last lost to the Whoppers (formerly Express) in May 24, 2006.
SMB pounded BK in the payoff, breaking away from a tight battle in stretching its amazing streak to eight games. The Beermen won those games by a whopping average margin of 16.5 points.
Coach Siot Tanquingcen and his troops have yet to lose a game since bowing to Barangay Ginebra and Alaska Milk in their first two games in the season.
For Racela, it became more meaningful that they emerged triumphant in his 872nd career game. Racela moved past Jerry Codiñera and Yoyoy Villamin to be at fifth place in the all-time most number of games played. Abet Guidaben is at No. 1 with 1,081, followed by Ramon Fernandez (1,074), Robert Jaworski (958) and Philip Cezar (918).
Racela, a mere second-round draft selection in 1993, marked his new career milestone with 12 points.
“I’m blessed to play this long.... playing long in a high-level of play,” said Racela.
Santos, however, stood out with a highly productive performance, underscoring his emergence as the new SMB main man. The versatile 6-foot-4 forward out of FEU is No. 2 in the league both in scoring and in rebounding.
“I’m just doing my job and I’m happy I’m helping my team win games,” said Santos who could have got more numbers if not forced to sit down the closing minutes after figuring in a double-technical incident with Ronnie Matias.
Santos, however, had done his job before riding the bench.
He worked hard on both ends, keying a run that had the Beermen pulling away from a 72-67 count at the start of the final period.
The scores:
Alaska 99 --Hugnatan 17, Tenorio 16, Thoss 14, Miller 11, DeVance 9, Dela Cruz 9, Borboran 8, Fonacier 8, Ferriols 5, Cariaso 2, Burtscher 0.
Barako Bull 88 -- Aljamal 21, Alonzo 12, Dimaunahan 12, Crisano 12, Menor 9, Belano 7, Hubalde 6, Memberere 5, Fernandez 4, Najorda 0, Sta. Maria 0, Lao 0
Quarterscores: 29-26; 51-47; 79-64; 99-88
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