Aces crush rusty Hotshots

MANILA, Philippines — Capitalizing on its match-fitness, Alaska Milk pounced on the rusty Magnolia side, 103-80, for its third victory in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Aces drew heroics from JVee Casio, Jeron Teng and Chris Banchero, who backed up import Chris Daniels’ 23-point, seven-rebound performance, in streaking to back-to-back triumphs and 3-2 overall at the expense of a Magnolia team that debuted after a two-week layoff.

Casio rifled in 17 spiked by three triples while Teng had 12 rebounds on top of 12 markers – the duo doing the most damage in sparking the Aces’ first breakaway in the second quarter.  Banchero issued 11 assists to go with his nine-pointer to lead Alaska’s 31 feeds.  

“As happy as I am with this win over Magnolia, which has become one of the giants in the league, I also recognize that was far from their best. We’re exceptionally fortunate to get Magnolia in this situation. We caught them tired and with lack of preparations (coming from their finals stint in the Philippine Cup which ended last May 15),” said Alaska coach Alex Compton.

Still, there’s no denying how well the Aces got the job done against the debuting Hotshots.

“I thought our ball movement in the first half was great, we had 17 assists in that period. Nice to have a lot of guys sharing the ball and doing good job together, led by Chris Banchero who had 11 assists. It was a total team effort,” said Compton.

The Aces broke away from a 30-26 contest with a 20-11 blast anchored on Casio and Teng as they entered the halftime break with a 12-point tear.

Later, NorthPort hacked out a massive 121-88 upset of debuting San Miguel to grab a share of the lead with idle Blackwater at 4-1. Determined to get back on track after their loss to Barangay Ginebra, the Batang Pier came out firing and dealt the Phl Cup titlists Beermen one of their worst beatings.

The scores:  

First Game

Alaska 103 – Daniels 23, Casio 17, Teng 12, Enciso 11, Cruz 9, Banchero 8, Manuel 6, Thoss 4, Ayaay 4, Exciminiano 2, Racal 2, Galliguez 2, Babilonia 2, Andrada 1, Potts 0, Pascual 0.

Magnolia 80 – Sangalang 17, Barroca 15, Fields 12, Lee 9, Jalalon 7, Herndon 6, Ramos 5, Melton 4, Dela Rosa 3, Brondial 2, Pascual 0, Simon 0.

Quarterscores: 25-20, 50-38, 89-64, 103-80

Second Game

NorthPort 121 – Bolick 25, Ibeh 18, Lanete 16, Grey 16, Tautuaa 11, Elorde 11, Anthony 10, Taha 9, Flores 3, Gabayni 2. 

San Miguel 88 – Rhodes 27, Fajardo 19, Santos 11, Pessumal 11, Standhardinger 6, Cabagnot 5, Zamar 4, Vigil 3, Lassiter 2, Rosser 0, Mamaril 0.

Quarerscores: 25-25, 54-41, 91-63, 121-88