Alaska end Rain or Shine’s unbeaten slate with record defense

Alaska went back to .500 for the PBA Philippine Cup as it held erstwhile unbeaten Rain or Shine to its franchise record-low with a 74-48 shellacking in the second of the Wednesday doubleheaders at the Ynares Sports Arena.

Fresh from their aborted comeback try against Phoenix last Saturday, Jeff Cariaso’s Aces emphatically snapped their own two-game slide and the three-win streak of the Elastopainters simultaneously by holding them to the second worst single-game scoring in league history in a comfortable win that got them to 2-2 for the campaign.

Rodney Brondial lead all scorers with 13 points, with Abu Tratter putting up a double double of 12 markers and a game-high 13 rebounds for Alaska in which they got the win despite having more turnovers and losing the bench and fastbreak scoring.

Both Cariaso and Tratter reflected on their recovery from losing two in a row after winning their opener, which was also a 26-point mauling of still-winless Blackwater on opening day.

Said The Jet, “Obviously, we’re really happy that we’re able to get a win tonight. But I think what allowed us to be successful tonight was really how we approach losing the last game.”

“Mentally it’s a challenge when you lose two in a row. With a quick schedule like we have, you can’t be too high, you can’t be too low. And I commend the guys for not being too low, even after losing two games.”

“We took it to the chin, these last two losses”, the former La Salle big man remarked. “We really went back into practice and with a different outlook for the game.”

What was touted as a close encounter turned into a one-sided beatdown early on, when the Aces broke the 4-all deadlock with a crippling 13-0 run in the opening frame that took the fight early from ROS.

And then, the former Grand Slam champions of the PBA went on overdrive the rest of the way (leading by as much as 29 on a Jaycee Marcelino three-point play), the Painters cannot buy a bucket to save their life, as they were just eighteen seconds away from recording the worst offensive output in league history when Adrian Wong hit a late triple to save their blushes.

The loss was deflating in more ways than one for ROS with their 48-point output, which was one more than Shell had made in their 32-point loss to Mobiline (now TNT) 21 years ago at the nearby PhilSports Arena in the same conference (then known as the All-Filipino).

Also, their 20.9% (18/86) clip from the field was now the second-worst in league history, barely eclipsing NorthPort’s 21% (17/81) in their defeat to Meralco on the July 16 opening. But it was still better than Coca-Cola’s 20% (16/80) when they were booted out by Magnolia (now San Miguel Beer) in the 2008 Fiesta Conference quarterfinals.

The Scores:

ALASKA 74 – Brondial 13, Tratter 12, Ahanmisi 10, DiGregorio 9, Teng 6, Casio 5, Banal 5, Taha 4, Marcelino 3, Adamos 3, Ebona 2, Stockton 2, Herndon 0, Publico 0

RAIN OR SHINE 48 – Wong 9, Torres 7, Caracut 6, Ponferada 6, Nambatac 5, Belga 5, Norwood 4, Borboran 3, Guinto 2, Santillan 1, Rivero 0, Mocon 0

Quarter scores: 19-12, 41-23, 61-39, 74-48

PHOTOS: PBA