Batang Pier outplay Aces

ROOKIE Terrence Romeo and the veteran Sol Mercado waxed hot in different stretches of the first half last night and Globalport went on to score an  easy 94-84 victory over Alaska in the PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Romeo jumpstarted the Batang Pier offense with 13 first quarter points and Mercado helped fan the flames of a hot first half by tossing in 16 in the second period as Globalport broke away early and never looked back on the way to a franchise-best third straight win.

The duo combined for 39 first half points, two more than what the entire Alaska squad scored in the same stretch as Globalport rose to 4-3 while matching their most wins in a conference that the Batang Pier achieved in the Governors’ Cup last season.

Globalport finished with a 4-5 record in the elimination round and went on to make the playoffs for the first time in that tournament only to draw powerhouse Petron in the quarterfinals and get booted out by the Boosters.

Barangay Ginebra stayed in second place later in the night, almost blowing a 14-point lead before posting an 85-79 nipping of short-handed Barako Bull.

The Gin Kings rose to 5-1, while the Energy, who played without point guards Denok Miranda and Jonas Villanueva, dropped a fourth straight game after two wins.

Alaska never got it going with Calvin Abueva missing the game because of a sprained foot. The Aces trailed 35-55 at the half and went down for the second straight game in a 2-5 card.

Mercado finished with 26 points and Romeo had 21 after two cold-shooting games.

The scores:

First Game

GLOBALPORT 94—Mercado 26, Romeo 21, Washington 13, Garcia 13, Yee 10, Chua 3, Hayes 3, Lingganay 2, Nabong 2, Menk 1, Salva 0, Salvador 0.

ALASKA 84—Casio 28, Thoss 13, Jazul 10, Espinas 9, Baguio 8, Ramos 7, Exciminiano 6, Buenafe 3, Belasco 0, Dela Cruz 0, Hontiveros 0, Eman 0.

Quarters: 27-20, 55-35, 77-58, 94-84

Second Game

GINEBRA 85—Aguilar 16, Slaughter 15, Baracael 15, Tenorio 10, Ellis 8, Reyes 7, Monfort 7, Helterbrand 5, Urbiztondo 2, Ababou 0, Mamaril 0, Caguioa 0.

BARAKO 79—Miller 14, Pennisi 14, Isip 13, Jensen 8, Labagala 8, Lastimosa 6, Buenafe 5, Intal 5, Wilson 4, Pena 2, Maierhofer 0, Fortuna 0.

Quarters: 19-19, 41-32, 66-55, 85-79