Alaska reaches 700th win on owner's 47th birthday

Alaska Milk joined the league’s 700 Club in grand fashion yesterday, clobbering Talk n Text, 113-86, to firm up its hold of the lead in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup at The Arena in San Juan.

The Aces came through with a mind-boggling 26-to-nothing run in the first half and never let up to hit the milestone right on the 47th birthday of franchise owner Wilfred Steven Uytengsu.

With their ninth win in the All-Filipino tourney, the Aces became the third team in league history to notch a 700th win after San Miguel Beer in 1999 then Barangay Ginebra just in the recent Fiesta Conference.

Alaska achieved the feat in record pace, winning those games in 23 seasons. San Miguel hit the mark on its 25th season and Ginebra on its 29th year.

In the other game, Barangay Ginebra erected a 19-point lead early in the third quarter and held off Sta. Lucia, 93-81, for its fifth win against six losses.

Sunday Salvacion scored 22 points, counting five treys, to pace the Kings in a repeat win over the Realtors in the double-round elims.

The Aces established several new season highs, including field goal shooting, total output and winning margin, in pulling off the big rout to avenge an 83-91 loss to the Tropang Texters in their previous tiff.

The 27-point victory was the biggest for Alaska this season or since its 88-60 walloping of Purefoods in the last Fiesta Conference.

“It’s a little bit shocking. I’m proud of our guys because we’re coming off a tough loss. Tonight we did what we have to do,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone.

“We shot the ball very, very well today. We hit the treys, we hit good shots and we beat them off the dribble. Everything goes right for us and everything goes wrong for them. It was just one of those nights,” Cone added.

The Tropang Texters started with an 11-5 run before the Aces countered with a 25-2 blitz to take the first quarter at 31-13.