After wingman Kevin Racal swished a three for a 36-point Alaska spread, Columbian head coach Ricky Dandan couldn’t help but stare blankly on the floor, searching for answers.
He found none. And after a promising start to the conference, Columbian crashed hard against an Aces squad that never let up in cruising to a 134-103 victory Friday night in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Meralco made it a night of routs, peeling away early and punishing sister team NLEX, 106-90, in the other game.
Chris Newsome was a beast on both ends of the floor and drew a lot of support from the Meralco backcourt of Baser Amer, Mike Tolomia and Anjo Caram to crack NLEX.
The Bolts are now tied with the Aces and idle GlobalPort (2-1) after sending the Road Warriors to a third straight setback.
So overpowering were the Aces that they needed just two quarters to dump the Dyip and score a second straight breakaway win.
Do-it-all forward Vic Manuel had 20 of his 26 points in 11 minutes during that span and Antonio Campbell added 18 before finishing with 22 points as Alaska took a 73-37 lead at the half.
“It was a great team effort, but I have to give credit to the way we defended out there,” said Compton after the Aces tied GlobalPort (2-1) in the tight race to secure a crucial spot in the quarterfinals.
“I’m thankful that we’re able to do the things we did in practice and I believe we can get better as we play more games in the tournament,” said Manuel, who also starred in their blowout win against Blackwater, in Filipino.
Meanwhile, June Mar Fajardo, Terrence Romeo, and Kiefer Ravena will face their teammates in the National team during the final phase of the three-stage PBA All-Star game on May 27 in Iloilo City.
Both Ravena and Fajardo played big for the national team in the first two windows of the ongoing Fiba World Cup qualifiers. A nagging knee injury, however, prevented Romeo from suiting up in the tournament. But the TNT star has been part of the Gilas program for quite some time.
For now, the three will start for the Visayas All-Stars to be handled by Magnolia coach Chito Victolero, along with Barangay Ginebra big man Greg Slaughter and Rain or Shine star James Yap.