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Fresh Alaska draws 1st blood vs tired Ginebra


The opener of the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series between Alaska and Barangay Ginebra showed the obvious – the Aces looking very much fresh and the Kings appearing to be weary and tired. Coming off a three-week break, Alaska pounded an exhausted Barangay Ginebra side, 104-79, for a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven duel Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.

Alaska’s Willie Miller, right, drives against Barangay Ginebra’s Ronald Tubid during Game 1 of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series Wednesday at the Big Dome. Jeff Venancio
“It’s a good start, definitely," said Alaska coach Tim Cone. “Hopefully we can build momentum on this. It’s not a thing to be excited about. We all know Ginebra was 0-2 down in the last series." The game came three days after Ginebra completed its big comeback from 0-2 down to eliminate Talk `N Text in their walkout-marred, best-of-five quarterfinals series. Clearly, the effort took its toll on the Kings as they shot just 36 percent from the field (31-of-86) and 8-of-15 from the foul line. So one-sided the game was that the Kings even fell behind by as many as 29 points (74-45) on a triple by Larry Fonacier in the third quarter. In contrast, Alaska shot 49.4 percent from the field, converting 42 of 85 attempts. Cone, however, cautions everyone against expecting a similar outcome in the next few games of the series. “We can’t take things easy," said Cone. “That’s the advantage you get when you make it to the semifinals outright. You don’t have to go through emotional, roller-coaster series just like they did." Sonny Thoss and Joe DeVance came through with double-doubles for the Aces to make up for Willie Miller’s miserable scoring performance. Thoss scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and DeVance had 20 points and a conference-high 18 rebounds.
The scores: Alaska 104 - Thoss 21, De Vance 20, Tenorio 19, Dela Cruz 10, Borboran 8, Hugnatan 8, Fonacier 7, Miller 4, Cariaso 4, Cablay 3, Ferriols 0. Ginebra 79 - Caguioa 23, Salvacion 14, Tubid 8, Baguio 8, Intal 7, White 6, Wilson 4, Menk 3, Mamaril 2, Villanueva 2, Helterbrand 2, Cruz 0. Quarterscores: 29-17, 55-35, 78-62, 104-79.
Miller was the only starter who failed to finish in twin digits in scoring, finishing with only four points and three rebounds but had five assists. LA Tenorio ended up with 19 points and Tony De La Cruz with 10. Mark Caguioa led the Kings with 23 points, including 13 in the third period. At one stretch, he scored 15 of Ginebra’s last 17 points as the Kings threatened to within 78-64. That was the closest Ginebra could come, though. Alaska responded well with Reynel Hugnatan hitting two free throws and Tenorio firing a three-point shot as the Aces once more tore the game wide open, 83-64. “We handled the pressure well when they applied a run," said Cone. JC Intal was held to seven points on 2-of-12 shooting from the field after averaging 23.75 points and close to 10 rebounds per game for the Kings in the quarterfinals. Ronald Tubid only came through with eight points while Eric Menk only finished with three points. - GMANews.TV