INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - Alaska rolled to its sixth straight win last night, blasting Burger King, 87-73, at the Cuneta Astrodome to move three full games ahead of its closest pursuers in the KFC Philippine Cup.

Willie Miller scored 19 points and Reynel Hugnatan chipped in 16 on top of eight rebounds to pace the Aces, whose early success was attributed by veteran Jeffrey Cariaso to the Aces? staying humble and grounded.

?I know that people are talking about the start of 1996 and 1998?those were very special teams that I was fortunate to be a part of,? said Cariaso, the remaining member of the last Alaska squad that had similar 6-0 starts.

?One comparison (with those teams with the one we have now) is that we genuinely like each other,? he added. ?When you guys talk about being family, I think we really are, and with that, good things happen.

?What?s pretty amazing (about this team) is that the guys know how to stay grounded, to stay humble and keep worrying about tomorrow (despite the successes).?

The Aces dominated the game early before breaking away in the third period to take leads of as many as 20 points. Alaska was outscored only in the fourth period? by four?as coach Tim Cone got almost everyone to contribute.

Ronjay Buenafe scattered 15 points for the Whoppers, but Gary David scored just five markers in only 19 minutes.

?I don?t know what to say. I didn?t expect it to be like this tonight (blowout win),? Cone said.
?I really expected our team to come out flat tonight because of our big game against Sta. Lucia Wednesday night.?

Action shifts to Victorias, Negros Occidental today with San Miguel gunning for a fourth straight victory against dangerous Sta. Lucia in a road game presented by Phoenix Fuel at the Victorias City Sports Center.

Meanwhile, guest team Smart Gilas won for the first time in a no-bearing game against Coca-Cola, 98-93, after getting 18 points from Chris Tiu and 15 from Mark Barroca.

The scores:
ALASKA 87?Miller 19, Hugnatan 16, De Vance 13, Fonacier 8, Thoss 8, Cariaso 5, Burtscher 4, Tenorio 4, Ferriols 4, Dela Cruz 4, Borboran 2, Cablay 0.

BURGER KING 73?Buenafe 15, Yee R. 13, Matias 10, Belga 10, Sharma 8, Lanete 6, David 5, Quinahan 4, Yee M. 2, Williams 0, Aban 0, Billones 0.
Quarters: 27-19, 43-34, 72-54, 87-73