Alaska starts season with bad beat as ROS pulls rout

Rey Nambatac led the Elasto Painters' balanced attack. Dennis Acosta

By Ivan Saldajeno

BIÑAN—The Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters gave the Alaska Aces a rude greeting in their return to play as the former scored an 85-72 blowout in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay on Sunday night.

ROS pulled away in the final six and a half minutes of the first quarter, ending the period with a 13-2 run to break a 12-all tie en route to the rout.

Rey Nambatac put up 12 points and two rebounds to lead the E-Painters, who moved up to 4-1, a half-game behind the still unbeaten Phoenix Fuel Masters at the top of the standings.

Beau Belga added 11 markers, six boards, five dimes, and one block, while Raymond Almazan contributed 10 points, four caroms, three blocks, and one steal off the bench.

Fresh from a monster game two nights back in Antipolo, Javee Mocon had a quiet five markers, but he also had 11 caroms, three assists, and one block.

Maverick Ahanmisi, on the other hand, grabbed 14 rebounds with eight points, five assists, and four steals.

After coming alive in their first assignments, James Yap struggled offensively, only making three of 14 field goals for nine points with one rebound and two assists, but it hardly mattered in the blowout.

Despite the low-scoring win, they had a balanced offense all throughout with all but one player who Coach Caloy Garcia fielded in scoring at least three points.

Jeron Teng made 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, and one steal for the Aces, but he only made 5-of-18 from the field.

MJ Ayaay made six points, all coming off two triples, and two rebounds off the bench in his PBA debut.

G-Boy Babilonia, on the other hand, struggled in form in his four-minute playing time with two fouls as his lone stat.

Overall, they only made 29 percent of their shots including a dismal 28 percent clip from two-point range.

The scores:

Rain or Shine 85 - Nambatac 12, Belga 11, Almazan 10, Yap 9, Ahanmisi 8, Torres 7, Mocon 5, Norwood 5, Daquioag 4, Maiquez 4, Ponferada 4, Rosales 3, Borboran 3, Onwubere 0.

Alaska 72 - Teng 15, Pascual 12, Banchero 11, Galliguez 9, Exciminiano 6, Thoss 6, Ayaay 6, Baclao 4, Cruz 2, Potts 1, Babilonia 0.

Quarters: 25-14, 48-30, 64-51, 85-72.

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