Kings topple Aces
It’s back to the drawing board for the Alaska Aces as they succumbed to a 77-85 loss at the hands of the Barangay Ginebra Kings last night in the 37th PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
The loss snapped Alaska’s two-game win streak, tasting its eighth loss with only three wins to show as competition approaches the latter part of the season-opening tournament.
The defeat was extra crucial for the Aces as it pulled them down to ninth place. The number 10 and nine teams will be booted out after the eliminations.
Ginebra, on the other hand, climbed back to .500, tallying their fifth win against the same number of defeats.
Ranged against a taller team, Ginebra relied on their better outside shooting and drilled 11 three-pointers. In contrast, Alaska was super cold from the outside, making just one triple in the entire game.
Alaska did not make a three-pointer until the final 5:04 of the game when Cyrus Baguio connected from behind the arc that pushed Alaska to within, 72-76 after trailing by as many as nine points.
Cortez, however, answered with his own trifecta for a 79-72 Ginebra lead.
Alaska racked up five straight points to threaten at 77-79 with 2:56 left but the Kings scored the last six points of the game to ice the contest.
KG Canaleta came up with his best game as a Ginebra player by scoring a game-high 21 points. Cortez added 12, while JC Intal and Jayjay Helterbrand added 12 and 10 markers, respectively.
Sonny Thoss paced the Aces with 13 points.
Alaska actually had a more balanced offense with six Aces scoring in double figures. They, however, failed to score at the most crucial stretches.
Alaska was just within 67-69 at the 11:20 mark of the fourth but did not score again until the final 5:49, allowing Ginebra to take control of the match.
BOX SCORES
GINEBRA 85 – Canaleta 21, Cortez 13, Intal 12, Helterbrand 10, Mamaril 9, Villanueva 7, Caguioa 7, Wilson J. 2, Wilson W. 2, Tubid 2.
ALASKA 77 – Thoss 13, Custodio 12, Reyes 11, Baguio 11, Dela Cruz 11, Tenorio 10, Baracael 5, Eman 2, Bugia 2, Salamat 0. QUARTERSCORES: 21-23, 42-46, 66-65, 85-77.
