|
ALASKA had a terrific start and the second unit
sustained the phase to notch its second straight win against Sta.
Lucia Realty, 103-88, Sunday in the TNT-PBA Fiesta Conference at the
Araneta Coliseum.
Willie Miller led the Aces’
balanced attack as he tallied 21 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists to
put his team in a three-way logjam for the lead with Barangay
Ginebra and Red Bull at 7-2 mark apiece.
Miller also drew ample support
from his teammates particularly Sonny Thoss and Eddie Laure who led
the contributions of the bench with 14 points apiece.
The win also gave veteran coach
Tim Cone a trip to Baguio City for the All-Star Game. Cone will
handle the South team while Kings mentor Jong Uichico will call the
shots for the North squad.
“This is a game where there are a lot of things which are
going right for us while they could not get their rhythm going. We
have a real good game and guys like Willie (Miller) delivered for
us,” said Cone.
The victory also denied the
Realtors and coach Boyet Fernandez their first winning streak in the
tournament as they failed to make a follow up on their 103-100 win
over Coca-Cola and slipped to 3-5.
Rookie Kelly Williams led Sta.
Lucia with 28 points and 7 rebounds but no other Realtors were able
to support his strong performance.
The Realtors tried to stage a
rally in the fourth quarter but Alaska just made the right plays and
free throws to thwart the surge.
Holding an 81-60 cushion with
10:16 left remaining, Williams and Dennis Espino converted their own
three-point plays that ignited a 14-5 blast to move within 12,
74-86, over six minutes left.
But Jeffrey Cariaso hit two free
throws and Miller converted a difficult fade-away jumper at the
baseline over Sta. Lucia import Rock Winston to douse the rally.
|
