Banchero shines for Alaska, cops PBA weekly player honors

MANILA, Philippines – Chris Banchero’s scintillating performance in Alaska’s last two games earned him the Cignal-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for the period of October 15-21 in the PBA 2018 Governors’ Cup.

The stocky Alaska guard stood at the forefront of the Aces’ surge to register back-to-back wins, grabbing a piece of the lead in the team standings with Ginebra and Magnolia, while closing in for twice-to-beat edge in the playoffs.

The 29-year-old Banchero averaged 19 points, 7 assists and 5.5 rebounds this past week, leading Alaska to victories over Columbian, 104-94 and Blackwater, 116-109 as the Aces forged a three-way tie at the top spot with similar 7-2 records.

Alaska’s fifth overall pick in the 2014 PBA Rookie Draft registered a near triple-double effort of 10 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds to serve as a catalyst in their 10-point win over the Dyip.

Then last Sunday, Banchero, the third conference’s assist leader, went beast mode on offense, firing a new PBA career-high 28 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the floor to help Alaska outlast Blackwater.

The Fil-Italian guard edged Meralco Fil-American players Cliff Hodge and Chris Newsome, as well as San Miguel stalwart Chris Ross and rookie Christian Standhardinger for the weekky citation.

Alaska looks to make a strong finish in the elims and formalize its top 4 finish when it faces NLEX this Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, before taking on NorthPort next Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.