Keith Benson vs Calvin Abueva and Sonny Thoss. Nuki Sabio/PBA
MANILA, Philippines — Coach Luigi Trillo knew Alaska needed to play solid on both ends to beat powerhouse Talk N’ Text.
And that’s what the Aces did on Friday night in the 92-69 shellacking of the Texters in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“I told them to beat Talk N’ Text, you can’t just bring our A-game on the offensive end or the defensive end, you need to do both,” Trillo said in the postgame interview.
Alaska held Talk N’ Text to just five measly points in the third quarter while firing 28 and broke the game wide open.
A triple from Dondon Hontiveros set the biggest advantage of the Aves at 78-47 with 9:41 in the fourth quarter, as they cruised to their fifth victory sans a loss.
Rober Dozier led the Aces with 23 points and 28 rebounds, Cyrus Baguio added 17 while Calvin Abueva, JVee Casio and Hontiveros each had 10.
“You don’t beat Talk N’ Text just like that. May halong good defense and they had open shots and they missed those,” Trillo added.
The Aces are now accountable for the four of the last seven losses of the Texters this season alone, while pushing coach Norman Black to his worst loss since 2001.
Talk N’ Text, which was dominated in rebounding (47-60) and assists (14-24), slid down to 2-3.
Keith Benson churned out 27 points and pulled down 14 rebounds, Jayson Castro added 11 but the rest of the squad chipped in no larger than six points.