Aces grab Barako Bull by the horns

MANILA—Slowed down by a first half its coach doesn’t want to see again for the rest of this Philippine Cup, Alaska needed a swashbuckling final two quarters to hammer out an 88-64 victory over Barako Bull Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum.   The reigning Fiesta Conference champion Aces trailed 0-10, before getting their acts together and avert a disastrous conference debut.   “They played a lot more freely in the second half,” Alaska coach Tim Cone said of his Aces. “We played a very good second half on both sides of the floor and that first half, I hope we don’t ever see that again for the rest of the conference.   “It was a little frustrating in the beginning,” Cone added. “I think we missed our first eight shots and shot no more than 20 percent. We kind of expected it (bad start), but not that bad.”   Barako Bull played the first two quarters like a tournament favorite with the Energy Boosters even padded that 10-point spread to 31-20 with 4:52 left before the Aces asserted themselves.   Cone abandoned the Triangle Offense at around that time to let his players feel the game a little more. And to his surprise, it spurred last night’s win.   “These guys are so talented that I can’t ask them to play like robots,” Cone explained.   Joe Devance and LA Tenorio scored eight points each in the third and Cyrus Baguio had five as the Aces, from  a flimsy 35-34 lead at halftime, scooted away to take a 64-50 lead into the fourth.   The Energy Boosters were never a threat from there.   Alaska earned a share of the early lead with opening day winner Meralco, Talk ‘N Text and Powerade, which will gun for a second straight win today against Barangay Ginebra in a road game presented by Phoenix Fuels at the Batangas City Sports Complex.   That game is slated at 5 p.m. with the Tigers seeking a followup to a 111-103 decision of Rain or Shine last Wednesday and the Gin Kings looking to crash the win column and put a 72-72 loss to the Bolts behind.   Devance wound up with 24 points and 12 rebounds and Tenorio finished with 18 that went seven boards and three assists. Baguio also had a double-double  of 11 markers and  10 feeds.   Sunday Salvacion, an acquisition from the Kings, came off the bench to pace the Boosters with 22 with Mark Isip shooting 12 and rookie Hans Thiele finishing as the third and last player in twin digits with 12.   “We always want to start with a win,” Cone said. Photo by Nuki Sabio, PBA   The scores:
ALASKA 88—De Vance 24, Tenorio 18, Thos 11, Baguio 11, Custodio 9, Dela Cruz 8, Sotto 6, Eman 1, Espiritu 0, Borboran 0.
BARAKO BULL 64—Salvacion 22, Isip 14, Thiele 12, Wainwright 5, Juntilla 4, Alonzo 2, Andaya 2, Hubalde 2, Cruz 1, Duncil 0, Dimaunahan 0.
Quarters: 14-18, 35-34, 64-50, 88-64