Aces cripple Realtors, stretch win run to five

MANILA, Philippines - Alaska Milk kept its sharpness and steadiness despite a long nine-day respite, sustaining its hot streak with a 91-83 win over Sta. Lucia Realty last night in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Joe Devance came through with a double-double game with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Willie Miller had 19 points, five assists and four rebounds as the Aces overcame the Realtors, getting their best start in a conference in over 10 years.

LA Tenorio and Reynel Hugnatan also produced key numbers for the Aces who notched their fifth win in as many games so far.

It’s the franchise’s best start in a tourney since also opening up with a 5-0 win-loss roll in the 1998 all-Filipino tourney. Back then, the Aces lost their sixth game.

“We’re 4-0 last year then we lost our next game. We wanted to do one better from the last time and we got it,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone.

“But it’s not easy. Sta. Lucia has always been a tough matchup for us. We just couldn’t shaken them. We pulled through with big plays on both ends down the stretch,” Cone added.

Kelly Williams and Gabby Espinas both got double-double efforts that went down the drain as the Realtors suffered a second loss against three wins.

Lordy Tugade hit his stride in the fourth quarter after going scoreless in the first 36 minutes of play, fueling a big run that carried San Miguel Beer to a 93-77 win over the struggling Rain or Shine team in the first game.

Tugade scored all of his game-high 16 points in the final period, keying SMB’s third straight win following back-to-back setbacks in the season.

After going 0-of-4 from the field in the first three quarters, the former NU stalwart found his rhythm in the payoff period, knocking in three triples, a twinner and five free throws.

The Elasto Painters, who battled the Beermen through five deadlocks and eight lead changes in the first three quarters, found no answer to Tugade’s fourth-quarter explosion, remaining winless in five outings in the all-Filipino tourney.

Rain or Shine assistant coach Richard del Rosario called the shots for the team with head coach Caloy Garcia nursing bruises he sustained in a car accident Monday night.

“Lordy is a type of player any coach will not lose trust on. He works on his shooting seriously during practice so he’s capable of exploding any time in a game,” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen.

“He will not hesitate to shoot. He will keep on shooting and his shots are bound to get in. He did find a way to get his rhythm and it opened the floodgates for us,” Tanquingcen added.

Mike Cortez, Denok Miranda and Arwind Santos had thier shaare of offensive load in San Miguel’s fourth-quarter attack and each one also finished in double figures.

Gabe Norwood and Jeff Chan scored 14 apiece to pace the Elasto Painters who battled the Beermen through five deadlocks and eight lead changes in the first three quarters.

Chan knocked in two triples and totaled eight points with Norwood adding six points and five rebounds as the Elasto Painters even took control in the first half, sitting on a 39-33 cushion at halftime.

The Elasto Painters, however, couldn’t keep up as the Beermen stepped up their game at the outset of the final period, opening a 80-67 spread on a run capped by three straight triples by Tugade, Miranda and Cortez.

The Beermen beat the Elasto Painters by 16, 35-19, in the final canto while hitting at a 62.5 percent clip. Rain or Shine, on the other hand, converted only 33.3 percent of its shots.