Aces clobbers Tigers in Victorias City

Victorias City, Negros Occidental – Sonny Thoss may have gotten the shorter end of the numbers in his duel with Asi Taulava, but he and the Alaska Aces had the last laugh.

The 6-foot-9 center made the biggest offensive plays of the night as the Aces outlasted the Coca-Cola Tigers, 69-62, down the stretch Saturday in front of a capacity crowd at the Victorias City Sports and Amusement Center here.

With only a point separating the two teams,Thoss scored on a putback off a Tony de la Cruz miss with 39 seconds remaining then sank two free throws after Coke guard Alex Cabagnot clanged his 3-point tying attempt as Alaska stretched the lead to 67-62 en route to its second straight win in the 2008-09 KFC PBA Philippine Cup.

Thoss – helpless against Taulava, who asserted his size and bulk in the lane – finished with 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had three blocks. L.A. Tenorio also had 11 points, John Ferriols added 9 and Reynel Hugnatan and Jefferey Cariaso contributed 8 apiece for the Aces, who offset their 23 turnovers with strong rebounding and patience down the stretch.

It was a tough win for the Aces, who picked up their pace early but turned somewhat dysfunctional in the middle quarters.

“Coke did a good job defending us. They did a good job disrupting the rhythm of our triangle,” offered Alaska coach Tim Cone in explaining their struggling effort.

Certainly, the so-so performance of Alaska star guard and two-time MVP Willie Miller also contributed to Alaska’s hot-and-cold showing.

Miller managed just three points on 1-of-10 shooting and committed three turnovers in 35 minutes of action.

Alaska dominated the first half and led by as many as 13, 24-11, on a 3-pointer by Joe Devance early in the second quarter.

But the Tigers kept battling and in fact seized control in the third. After Mark Macapagal opened the second half with a three, Taulava, who repeatedly scored on semi-hook shots in the lane as if Thoss never existed, poured 10 straight points to put Coca-Cola ahead, 41-37.

Taulava led all scorers with 21 and had nine rebounds. Macapagal chipped in nine points and Nick Belasco added eight for the Tigers, who absorbed their second defeat in a row.

Coke led 51-48 after three quarters, but Alaska scored the first seven points of the fourth to pull ahead by four.

Taulava scored four points and Macapagal knocked in another three to spark a 9-3 run that put the Tigers back on top, 60-58, with 7:16 left.

Both teams went scoreless in the next 1:30 minutes before Miller completed a three point play to make it 61-60 with 5:46 remaining. (DBC)

The scores:

Alaska 69 – Thoss 11, Tenorio 11, Ferriols 9, Hugnatan 8, Cariaso 8, Fonacier 7, Devance 6, Miller 3, Sotto 0.

Coca-Cola 62 – Taulava 21, Macapagal 9, Belasco 8, Cabagnot 6, Telan 6, Arigo 5, Buenafe 5, Rizada 2, Dimaunahan 0, Baguion 0.

Quarters: 19-9; 31-28; 48-51; 69-62.