Powerade drops Alaska into a 0-3 hole; Petron undefeated in win over Shopinas

Powerade drops Alaska into a 0-3 hole; Petron undefeated in win over Shopinas

by rick olivares

October 16, 2011

Araneta Coliseum

The one-two punch combo of Powerade’s Gary David and Marcio Lassiter was good enough to drop the reeling Alaska Aces to their third straight loss following a 79-67 win at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

David scored 26 points while Lassiter added 13 with eight coming in the crucial third period that gave the Tigers all the cushion they needed to hold off a late Alaska charge.

Early in the game, Alaska looked unable to even hit the side of a house as they only hit 5-21 field goals for a 15-28 deficit after a quarter played.

However, come the second quarter, the Aces found scoring sock in Mac Baracael and back up center Paolo Bugia. The rally from a double-digit deficit also saw Cyrus Baguio score on a variety of high-arcing jumpers and fadeaways to come within a point 35-36 at the half.

But Powerade showed how much better they’ve become with some off-season acquisitions as Lassiter and newcomers Doug Kramer and Rudy Lingganay combined for 15 points to back up scoring machine David’s nine-point output.

Jay-R Reyes and Baracael tired to inspire one last ditch rally but their shooting woes continued to hound them. Reyes led four Alaska players in double figures but suffered from the lack of production from their guards (LA Tenorio, Cyrus Baguio, Bonbon Custodio, Eric Salamat, and Brandon Cablay) who totaled 15 points amongst themselves.

Said Powerade coach Bo Perasol who saw his team go to 2-1: “I am quite confident that given more playing time together with the personnel right now, we can still get better. We have youth and veterans who are still willing to play. That’s still discounting the fact that we have JV on the bench and when he comes back we will have more firepower and leadership.”

In the first match of the PBA Philippine Cup doubleheader, Petron Blaze, behind the seventh consecutive double double of Arwind Santos (16 points and 21 rebounds) dominated Shopinas with a 98-87 win. It was Petron’s third straight win that conversely sent the Clickers to their third loss in the same number of outings.

With Petron’s starting frontline of Jay Washington and Rabeh Al-Hussaini still out because of knee injuries, the team picked up Rob Reyes who was cast adrift from Powerade to shore up their frontline. Reyes scored five points and pulled down three boards for fourth ballclub since coming out of Flagler College in the United States for the 2008-09 PBA season.

The Boosters were led by Dennis Miranda’s 18 points and former Smart Gilas mainstay Chris Lutz’ 17 points.

Former Petron guard Jojo Duncil led Shopinas with a game high 22 points.