Aces bounce back, spoil Barakos’ bid

Alaska Milk quickly got back on track after its conference-best seven-game streak was snapped the last time out, reasserting its mastery of Red Bull Barako with a 96-87 drubbing in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

Jeffrey Cariaso, Mike Cortez and Sonny Thoss, among seven Aces reinstated from suspension in time for the game, played key roles as they completed a two-game sweep of the Barakos in the classification round by a combined margin of 30 points.

The Aces easily duplicated their 106-85 demolition of the Barakos last April 17 despite missing the services of Brandon Cablay, who suffered a fractured bone in his left hand during the RP-Sydney Kings goodwill series.

"The story of the day was not the game but Brandon Cablay, at least for us and our organization. It’s really malas for us. But it could happen anywhere and we just have to deal with it. Tonight, we did a good job dealing with it," said Alaska coach Tim Cone.

"Brandon will be out for three to four weeks. He’ll be back by the end of the elims or sometime in the knockout phase. So, top two is important for us to avoid the playoffs without Brandon," Cone added.

The Aces stayed well on course towards achieving that goal as they nailed a ninth win against five losses.

Red Bull, on the other hand, practically moved out of the race for automatic semis entry as it absorbed its eighth loss in 14 starts.