Aces whip Kings in Game 1

Games Tomorrow: (Cuneta Astrodome)
5:00 p.m. – Purefoods vs. San Miguel Beer
7:30 p.m. – Ginebra vs. Alaska

ALASKA indeed hasn’t gathered rust from its 18-day break.

Ginebra, after its emotional quarter-finals triumph, simply looked tired.

Sonny Thoss and Joe DeVance collected double-doubles and the Aces held the Kings to a miserable shooting from the field and limited their attempts at the free-throw line, pulling off an emphatic 104-79 win in Game 1 of their best-of-7 semi-finals series in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Thoss scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and DeVance had 20 points and a conference-high 18 rebounds as Alaska , the No. 1 seed but lost 4 of its last five games in the elimination round, overcame the struggle two-time MVP Willie Miller went through in scoring.

“It’s a good start, definitely,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone. “Hopefully we can build momentum on this. It’s not a thing to be excited about. We all know Ginebra was 0-2 down in the last series.”

Miller was the only starter who failed to finish in twin digits in scoring. He only contributed four points and three rebounds but had five assists. Even then, Alaska ’s starters were far better than Ginebra’s, 74-21 (points), with LA Tenorio ending up with 19 points and Tony De La Cruz adding 10.

Methodically, too, Ginebra was dragged away from the kind of game it desires and contained from the part of the game it excels.

The Kings were held to only 36 percent shooting from the field (31-of-86), and could only troop to the free throw line 15 times, converting only 8. In its best-of-5 series against Talk ‘N Text, Ginebra normed 39.3 free throws in four games excluding the win it had in Game 4 due to a forfeiture.

Alaska shot 49.4 percent from the field, converting 42 of 85 attempts.

“We can’t take things easy,” said Cone. “That’s the advantage you get when you make it to the semi-finals outright. You don’t have to go through emotional, roller-coaster series just like they did.”

So uncharacteristic were the Kings’ performance that they even fell behind by as many as 29 points (74-45) on a triple by Larry Fonacier in the third quarter.

Mark Caguioa pumped in 23 points, including 13 in the third period. At one stretch, he scored 15 of Ginebra’s last 17 points as the Kings threatened to within 78-64.

It was, however, the closest Ginebra could come. Alaska responded well with Reynel Hugnatan hitting two free throws and Tenorio hitting a three-point shot as the Aces once more tore the game wide open 83-64.

“We handled the pressure well when they applied a run,” said Cone.

Although the series had just begun, Ginebra coach Jong Uichico already felt upset.

“We were a step slow,” he said. “But what disappoints me are players who don’t want to rise to the challenge; players who don’t find their inner strength. We’ve got to put a semblance of a fight.”

JC Intal, who averaged 23.75 points and close to 10 rebounds per game in the quarter-finals, was held to seven points on 2-of-12 shooting from the field. Ronald Tubid also was contained to eight points while Eric Menk only finished with three points.

What’s more discouraging for the Kings is that they might be two men down by Game 2. Celino Cruz suffered a sprained right ankle in the second quarter while Menk re-injured his groin muscle.

The scores
Alaska (104) — Thoss 21, DeVance 20, Tenorio 19, De La Cruz 10, Borboran 8, Hugnatan 8, Fonacier 7, Miller 4, Cariaso 4, Cablay 3, Ferriols 0.
Ginebra (79) — Caguioa 23, Salvacion 14, Tubid 8, Baguio 8, Intal 7, White 6, Wilson 4, Menk 3, Mamaril 2, Villanueva 2, Helterbrand 2, Cruz 0.
Quarterscores: 29-17; 55-35; 78-62; 104-79.