PBA: Alaska routs injury-stricken San Mig Coffee, claims third place

(Update-2 5:11pm) The Alaska Aces defeated the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers 85-66, Sunday afternoon at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum in the final elimination round game of the Aces’ championship-defending bid.

Already assured of their slots in the best of three quarterfinals, the game between the Aces and the Mixers turned out to be a lackluster affair as the latter opted to rest their players who are suffering injured, rather than go hard against the rampaging Aces.

After winning their first three assignments of the conference, the Mixers fizzled out as they lost their last three for a 4-5 win-loss record. The opposite was true for the Aces as they struggled early on, but found their groove later on winning five straight and placing third with a 6-3 tally.

The two teams did not have too much to fight for in the game. The usually intense matches between milk and coffee was a dud this time with nothing really at stake. Alaska and San Mig Super Coffee locked in the middle pack, which meant they will also play on Monday.

Raffy Reyes was named the Best Player of the Game as he chipped in eight points, four assists, and two steals.

For San Mig Super Coffee, only Yancy De Ocampo scored in double-digits. Usually reliable scorers Mark Barroca and PJ Simon only contributed a combined nine points for their cause.

The Mixers started with Rafi Reavis, Joe Devance, Mark Barroca, PJ Simon, and Alex Mallari. Absent were usual starters James Yap, Marc Pingris, and import James Mays. Their bench also had a casualty in Justin Melton who is still nursing a finger injury.

“You look at San Mig, their three best players are not there. It’s all about rest form them. For us it’s about rhythm,” said Alaska head coach Luigi Trillo after the game.

The reigning Philippine Cup titlists were able to pull even early in the game at 9-all thanks largely to the efforts of PJ Simon but Calvin Abueva quickly broke the tie after blocking seldom-used swingman JR Cawaling on one end and completing an and-1one opportunity on the other end.

The Aces continued to pour it on while employing their familiar defense against the Mixers to lead 22-14 in after the first 12 minutes.
 

In the second quarter, substitute center Yancy De Ocampo scored eight points for the Mixers to keep them in the game but eight Aces contributed to Alaska’s second quarter scoring, to allow them to build a 10-point lead heading into the break.

With Aces holding a 44-34 advantage in at the half, Jvee Casio rifled in five straight points to open the third quarter in an attempt to break the game wide open early in the second half. The Alaska lead ballooned to 19 points at 61-42 at the 4:45 mark of the third quarter.

Both teams emptied out their bench soon after with the result no longer in question.

The fourth quarter looked like more of a pick-up game instead of an actual PBA match as the two teams relied on their substitutes to finish the game. With the Mixers making no effort to bridge the gap, the Aces had no need to put their starters in. Guys like Isaac
Holstein, Val Acuna, and Jerwin Gaco played major minutes for the Mixers while Nic Belasco, Ping Exciminiano, and Ryan Buenafe did the same for the Aces.

The Mixers and Aces could find themselves locked in a quarterfinals battle if the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters defeat the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in the second game. In this scenario, Talk ‘N Text will face Ginebra, San Miguel Beer will battle Air21, and Rain or Shine will take on Meralco.

Coach Trillo also knows of this possibility and he did not think the game would dictate how a series against San Mig Super Coffee might go. “We just shortened the minutes of our starters. It’s one of those games that we have to go on with,” said Trillo. “They are different kind of team with James Yap, Pingris, and Mays are there. For sure they'll be twice as hard tomorrow. Tomorrow's going be different and our guys will be fresh.”

However, if Ginebra wins, they will finish sixth for the right to face Alaska. In this scenario, Talk ‘N Text and San Miguel Beer will have their twice-to-beat advantage over Air21 and Rain or Shine, respectively while the Bolts face the Mixers in a best of three series. - AMD, GMA News



The scores:

Alaska 85 - Dozier 8, Reyes 8, Manuel 8, Jazul 7, Buenafe 7, Abueva 7, Espinas 6, Exciminiano 6, Eman 6, Casio 5, Baguio 5, Dela Cruz 4, Thoss 4, Belasco 2, Hontiveros 2

San Mig Coffee 66 - De Ocampo 10, Acuna 9, Gaco 9, Cawaling 8, Devance 6, Simon 5, Reavis 5, Barroca 4, Mallari 4, Holstein 4, Sangalang 2

Quarter scoring: 22-14, 44-34, 67-48, 85-66