Alaska stops skid after beating Air21

Mark Cardona of Air21 (dark) vs Rob Dozier of Alaska (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines—Alaska snapped a two-game losing skid following an 88-78 win over Air21 in the 2014 PLDT Home Tvolution PBA Commissioner’s Cup Monday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Import Rob Dozier scored all of his eight fourth-quarter points in the final 4:30 where the Aces pulled away from a 70-deadlock.

“We just had some guys buying to what we’re doing defensively. We did a better job today playing defense…. we did a better job at limiting the guys,” said Alaska head coach Luigi Trillo.

Dozier, the reigning Best Import, finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and four blocks as he outplayed his counterpart Herve Lamizana, who trouble offensively scoring 16 points on just four-of-14 shooting from the field.

“This is not a sprint, it’s marathon because truth be told after these five games in 12 days, we have just five games in 12 weeks…so have time to get better,” added Trillo.

Joseph Yeo led all locals in scoring with 19 points while the ageless Asi Taulava had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Express, who dropped to 2-2.

Yeo knotted the count at 70 before defending champion Alaska rode on Dozier to create cushion. Dozier sealed the win with an up-and-under post up move against Lamizana, 82-74, with 1:10 remaining.