GlobalPort breezes through Alaska, scores third straight victory

Game today:

Dipolog City

3 p.m.- Meralco vs. Petron

THE GLOBALPORT Batang Pier had a walk in the park in tallying their longest winning streak in franchise history as they dumped the lethargic Alaska Aces, 94-84, last night in the 39th PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Sol Mercado fired 26 points while rookie Terrence Romeo nailed 21 in GlobalPort’s third straight victory that hiked their record to 4-3 (win-loss).

The Batang Pier put the game away with a second quarter explosion, where they built leads of as many as 21 points. The winning squad cruised from that point on, easily matching the franchise record for most wins in a conference which they achieved in last year’s Governors’ Cup.

Jay Washington and RR Garcia added 13 points each, while Mark Yee contributed 10.

Alaska struggled offensively without the hardworking rookie Calvin Abueva, who was sidelined after spraining his ankle in practice.

Alaska couldn’t recover from its second quarter struggle. The only time the Aces cut the deficit to single digit was in the final 20.9 seconds courtesy of a three-pointer by RJ Jazul. Alaska tasted its second straight loss and dropped to 2-5.

JVee Casio paced the Aces with a career-high 28 points. Sonny Thoss chipped in 13 markers, while RJ Jazul had 10.

BOX SCORES:

GLOBALPORT 94 – Mercado 26, Romeo 21, Washington 13, Garcia 13, Yee 10, Chua 3, Hayes 3, Lingganay 2, Nabong 2, Menk 1, Salva 0, Salvador 0.

ALASKA 84 – Casio 28, Thoss 13, Jazul 10, Espinas 9, Baguio 8, Ramos 7, Exciminiano 6, Buenafe 3, Belasco 0, Dela Cruz 0, Hontiveros 0, Eman 0.

QUARTERSCORES: 27-20, 55-35, 77-58, 94-84. /EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA