Ginebra mutes Talk N Text

MANILA, Philippines - Alaska Milk pounded the lanes in the absence of Globalport import Walter Sharpe due to silly fouls, breaking out of a tight contest for a 93-85 victory to regain the solo lead in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Rob Dozier did the biggest damage on Globalport with 26 points and 18 rebounds against Sharpe’s five boards and two markers in a 20-minute stint as the Aces bounced back from an upset by the Air21 Express Friday to record their seventh win against two losses.

"We established ourselves early. All his (Sharpe's) shots were tough. Then he got cheap ones (fouls) and we kept on pounding them," said Alaska coach Luigi Trillo.

Rookie Raffy Reyes did his job in filling in for the injured Jayvee Casio, helping Alaska deal Globalport its tournament-worst sixth straight loss and seventh in nine games overall.

"It's nice to see Raffy step up. He's filling in a big void as Jayvee settles our team down. We did a better job tonight in taking care of the ball and staying with the flow. We committed only 11 turnovers tonight compared to 24 in our previous game," said Trillo.

Casio, Alaska’s chief playmaker, is out indefinitely due to a left kneecap injury – the same injury he had had on his other knee while playing with Smart Gilas Pilipinas.

"He can play with it but when he takes a layup, it locks. We force him to sit out. We'll not risk his career," said Trillo.

Reyes and RJ Jazul, who alternated at the point in the absence of Casio, combined for 15 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Aces who dominated the struggling Globalport team, leading by as many as 16 points in the first half.

It took the efforts of local stars Willie Miller and Gary David for the Globalport to get into the game in the second half and come to within four at 72-76.

Sharpe hardly got into the groove, picking four fouls in the first half, a quick fifth foul in the third quarter and his sixth and last with 4:23 left to play.

Calvin Abueva completed a three-point play off Sharpe's last infraction then Dozier scored on a short stab in their next offensive thrust as the Aces reestablished a double-digit spread at 87-75 with 3:44 left to play.

Curiously, Globalport's original import Justin Williams has made marks with San Miguel Beer in the ABL. He topped the slam-dunk competition in the ABL Hoopfest in Saigon Saturday.

Japeth Aguilar also got into foul-trouble situation early, and coach Junel Baculi’s last option was to pit Jondan Salvador against Dozier and Sonny Thoss.

The Aces made good use of their advantage in size, winning the rebounding battle at 52-36.

Dozier went 9-of-12 from the field and 8-of-11 from the stripe to lead all scorers with Abueva and Cyrus Baguio adding 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Mark Caguioa erupted for a conference-best 28 points and Barangay Ginebra followed up its win over Commissioner's Cup champion San Mig Coffee the last time out with a 107-100 triumph over Philippine Cup titlist Talk n Text in the nightcap.

"We caught another big fish. We're still down but we've proven we can win," said Ginebra coach Alfrancis Chua after making it two in a row over two fancied teams to improve to joint seventh with Air21 and Barako Bull at 3-5.

The Texters suffered their first defeat with Donnell Harvey as import and dropped to joint fourth with San Mig Coffee and Meralco at 4-4.