FINALLY, A WIN

Alaska ends losing slump versus former coach Tim Cone, evens semis series

Alaska finally won one over San Mig Coffee and made former coach Tim Cone miss his pre-game prediction of a ‘magnificent battle’ by a mile.

“I think, for us, the monkey’s off our back,” Alaska coach Luigi Trillo said after a lopsided 86-67 victory over the Mixers last night that tied their best-of-five Cebuana Lhuillier PBA Commissioner’s Cup Final Four quarterfinal series at 1-1 at Mall of Asia Arena.

“Failure is temporary, that’s what I have been telling my players,” Trillo added when reminded that he won for the first time in 10 games ever since Cone left the Aces to take the lucrative position at San Mig.

Robert Dozier fired 28 points and collared a season-high 27 rebounds, playing as the catalyst for the Aces, who not only played defense as great as the way they played in Game 1 but also had their offense humming all night.

“This is what it is, when your backs are against the wall,” Trillo said in tribute to his players, who held the high-profile offensive armada of the defending champion Mixers to just 14 points in each of the first two quarters to break away early.

Denzel Bowles had a career-low eight points and couldn’t bail the Mixers out of this one. /inquirer