The
undefeated Alaska Aces remained immaculate and stayed on top of the heap, while
the Meralco Bolts and San mig Coffee Mixers upset their more fancied foes this
past weekend in the 2013 PBA Commish Cup.
In the
weekend’s lone out-of-town match, Alaska's defense was awesome when the game
was getting a little too close for comfort. The Aces held Ginebra to just 30
points in the second half, including allowing the Kings to make only 1 field
goal in the last four minutes of the game. Kudos to coach Luigi Trillo for
engineering effective two-way basketball! In the meantime, Ginebra’s new
import, Vernon Macklin, wasn't exactly crackin' in his debut. The newly-minted
replacement for Herbert Hill missed his first seven from the floor and never
really got anything going when the Kings needed someone to carry them. Save for
the obligatory slamma jammers, of course.
The Aces’ frontline,
in contrast, remains to be one of the tallest, and best, in town. Prior to this
game, Robert Dozier and Sonny Thoss averaged a combined 32.6ppg and 18.7rpg.
Dozier, not surprisingly, deserves a lion's share of the credit for that, but
Thoss seems to have adjusted well to the role of NOT being Alaska's primary
slotman. He tossed in 16 markers (7-of-8 FG shooting) to go along with 5 caroms
for the Aces in this one, while Dozier himself scored 21 points and grabbed 11
boards.
In yesterday’s
first game, Meralco import Eric Dawson thoroughly outplayed his counterpart,
Justin Williams. Dawson registered 19 points, 17 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3
blocks to lead the Bolts in their stirring comeback victory, while Williams had
just 5 points and 13 boards, though he did block 8 shots. Dawson will have to
be more efficient, though, as he shot just 6 out of 20 from the floor.
With only a
few minutes to go and all their cylinders clicking, the Batang Pier seemed to
have this one in the bag, until they failed to convert inside the last minute
and the Bolts just pulled the rug from under them. It's also worth noting that
Global had more turnovers and missed more shots down the stretch.
The pivotal
element in Meralco’s big win, of course, was the Sunday Special – Sunday Salvacion.
Salvacion capped off one if his best games in recent memory with the
game-winning off-the-board three that beat the buzzer and the Batang Pier.
That's a mouthful, I know, but it's worth saying/writing simply because
Sunday's shot was out-of-this-world. It came off a play that seemed headed
nowhere fast – Chris Ross kicked out the ball to Mac Cardona, who drove and got
caught in the key till Sunday flashed behind him for the marginal basket. That
was Salvacion's SIXTH three of the game. Prior to this playdate, the former CSB
Blazer hadn't played a minute of 2013 Commish Cup basketball.
In yesterday’s
nightcap, the SMC Mixers stepped up big time to beat the Tropang Texters. SMC’s
locals probably took Marc Pingris' comments to heart, and it showed on the
stat-sheet. PJ Simon, Pingris, Joe Devance, and Mark Barroca all combined for
45 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks to backstop Denzel
Bowles' monster-like numbers. They also shot 17-of-30 (57%) from the two-point
range to underscore their offensive efficiency. In contrast, Gilas call-ups
Kelly Williams, Jared Dillinger, Ranidel De Ocampo, and Larry Fonacier put up
subpar numbers for TNT. That quartet registered only 15 points on 6-of-26 FG
shooting.
Oh, and did
I mention that Monster Bowles made an appearance? Prior to this game, it seemed
like the difference between Denzel Bowles and TNT import Keith Benson was night
and day. That eventually became true, but completely opposite to what was
expected. Benson did well with 16 points and 17 rebounds, but Bowles was EVEN
BETTER with 29 points, TWENTY THREE boards, and 3 blocks. He. Is. Back.
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| Denzel Bowles was his old monster self as the Mixers subdued the Texters. |
Game Recaps:
ALASKA ACES over BGY.
GINEBRA GIN KINGS, 84-69
Even a trip
to Mindanao couldn’t change the fortunes of either Alaska or Barangay Ginebra
San Miguel.
The Aces won
their fourth straight game, defeating the Gin Kings, 84-69, Saturday at the
Mindanao Convention Center in Tubod, Lanao del Norte.
Taking
advantage of a Ginebra squad bringing in new import Vernon Macklin, Alaska
raced to a double-digit advantage early in the second quarter.
But inspired
by the energetic Macklin, who had several rim-rattling dunks, Ginebra rallied
to close the gap at the half, 43-39.
The early
second half was a nip-and-tuck affair, before Alaska went on a 13-5 run to
bridge the third and fourth quarters to take a 67-57 lead with over eight
minutes left in the game. Ginebra could not come closer than eight points the
rest of the way, sliding down to the bottom of the team standings with their
fourth straight loss.
Robert
Dozier led all scorers with 21 points, while Sonny Thoss added 16 points and
five rebounds for Alaska. Mark Caguioa had 20 points to lead Ginebra, while
Macklin scored 16 points in his first outing after replacing Herbert Hill. The
new Ginebra import also grabbed 20 rebounds, but shot just 2-of-9 from the free
throw line.
ALA 84 – Dozier 21, Thoss 16, Espinas
10, Jazul 9, Hontiveros 8, Baguio 8, Abueva 6, Casio 4, Dela Cruz 2, Reyes 0.
GIN 69 – Caguioa 20, Macklin 16,
Tenorio 8, Ellis 7, Raymundo 6, Mamaril 4, Helterbrand 4, Hatfield 2, Labagala
2, Taha 0, Labagala 0, Baracael 0, Jensen 0.
QS: 23-17, 43-39, 61-54, 84-69
MERALCO BOLTS over GLOBALPORT
BATANG PIER, 90-89
Sunday
Salvacion banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Meralco a thrilling
90-89 victory over GlobalPort Sunday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“Nakita ko
wala nang time eh, thank God pumasok,” he said after the game.
The basket,
Salvacion’s sixth three-pointer of the evening, capped a wild finish by the
Bolts that saw them come back from a 12-point fourth quarter deficit.
“For anyone
doubting there’s no God, there’s one after a shot like that,” said Meralco
coach Ryan Gregorio. “Sunday hasn’t played in three games, but that’s what veterans
do. They come in and play.”
GlobalPort
looked like it had the game in control after taking an 80-68 lead early in the
fourth quarter on a three-pointer by Gary David, who led all scorers with 27
points.
The Batang
Pier were still up by eight points, 89-81, before a three-pointer by Salvacion,
who finished with 20 points, kicked off a game-ending 9-0 blast by the Bolts.
Import Eric
Dawson had 19 points for Meralco, which had lost three straight matches coming
into the game, while Cliff Hodge and Mac Cardona added 16 and 15 points,
respectively.
“We need to
win like this to unite our team,” added Gregorio.”We need this to love one
another. It was like a Hollywood script, we came back from a big lead, but we
found ways to win.”
Willie
Miller played his best game of the tournament so far, finishing with 22 points.
Former Meralco star Sol Mercado was held to just six points in his first
matchup with his old squad. But another former Bolt, rookie Jaypee Belencion
who was a throw-in in the Mercado trade, came off the bench for a career-high
15-point explosion.
Meralco’s
win-loss record improved to 2-3, tying the Batang Pier in the standings.
MER 90 – Salvacion 20, Dawson 19, Hodge
16, Cardona 15, Hugnatan 7, Manuel 4, Buenafe 4, Guevarra 3, Ross 2, Reyes 0,
Artadi 0.
GLO 89 – David 27, Miller 22, Belencion
15, Aguilar 12, Mercado 6, Williams 5, Mandani 2, Yee 0, Salvador 0, Crisano 0.
QS: 17-24, 43-48, 66-67, 90-89
Sunday Salvacion's Game-winner:
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| Japeth Aguilar slams one home against the Bolts! |
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| Eric Dawson was the better import in Meralco's win over Global Port. |
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| The Meralco Bolts dogpile on Sunday Salvacion after he hit the game-winning trey at the buzzer! |
SAN MIG COFFEE MIXERS over TALK
N TEXT TROPANG TEXTERS, 90-82
Monster
Bowles is back.
After a
subpar outing in his return match last Friday against Rain or Shine where he
scored just 12 points, the reigning Commissioner’s Cup Best Import rebounded
with a dominant performance to carry the San Mig Coffee Mixers to their first
victory in the tournament, a 90-82 win over the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters.
In a rematch
of last year’s finals protagonists, Bowles shone brightest, finishing with 29
points and 23 rebounds against the same team he defeated for the championship a
season ago.
He scored 14
points in the fourth quarter — the same total as the Tropang Texters — as the
defending champions finally broke through after three losses to open the
tournament.
Bowles’
performance made up for the subpar game of Mixers top gun James Yap, who scored
just six points in 17 minutes after struggling with foul trouble all game.
“But we were
inspired by Denzel. He was a key for us, especially with James (Yap) in foul
trouble,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone.
The San Mig
Coffee supporting crew stepped up, with Peter June Simon and Mark Barroca
breaking out of their shooting slumps scoring 13 and nine points, respectively.
Marc Pingris and Joe Devance added 12 and 11 for the Mixers, which held the
potent Tropang Texters to below 39 percent shooting from the field.
SMC 90 – Bowles 29, Simon 13, Pingris
12, Devance 11, Barroca 9, Yap 6, Gaco 4, Najorda 2, Reavis 2, De Ocampo 2,
Mallari 0.
TNT 82 – Castro 18, Benson 16, Reyes
14, Alapag 8, Al-Hussaini 7, Fonacier 6, Williams 4, Carey 4, Dillinger 3, De
Ocampo 2, Aban 0.
QS: 17-17, 44-41, 63-68, 90-82
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| Harvey Carey and Marc Pingris battle under the basket. |
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| Jessica Mendoza was a beautiful distraction at courtside. |
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| The SMC locals really stepped up as the Mixers beat TNT. |
Source: Unless otherwise specified, game
recaps were compressed and compiled from InterAKTV. (Writing credit to Rey
Joble)
Images: Images are from InterAKTV and the
PBA. (Photo credit to Paul Ryan Tan and Pranz Kaeno Billones)
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