MANILA, Philippines - Alaska Milk punished Meralco with a torrid offense, fashioning out a lopsided 98-90 victory to gain solo fourth place in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome last night.
The Aces torched the Bolts with a 70-percent shooting in the first quarter and hardly cooled down the rest of the way as they completed the rout that improved their win-loss record to 3-2.
Adam Parada, LA Tenorio, Cyrus Baguio, Sonny Thoss and Eric Salamat delivered double-digit outputs for the Aces who opened with a 23-6 salvo and led by as many as 25, 39-14, on a 12-to-nothing start in the second period.
“We felt good in the beginning of the game. We’re given opportunities to take open shots. We took it and we made it,” said Alaska coach Joel Banal.
“We’re feeling great. We didn’t feel this way last conference. Hopefully, we can keep offense up,” said Tenorio.
Banal and Tenorio hope they win at least three of their last four games to get into the playoffs which they missed last conference.
“We promise ourselves not go below .500, so this win is so important. We’ll be in good condition if we can win at least three more,” said Banal.
The Bolts, meanwhile, found themselves in a tight situation with their fourth loss against a lone win.
Against the Aces, they continued to grope for form, finding some rhythm only towards the end with Sol Mercado, who was just back from injury, scattering 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter.
Parada produced 25 points and 14 rebounds while getting enough rest with Sam Eman and Jayr Reyes providing good relief job.
Rodney White made a good impression in his debut as a Barako Bull import, helping the Energy check a three-game slump with a 101-91 win over the Powerade Tigers in the nightcap.