Blogdyak

It's very unusual to see the Alaska Aces's bench having a new head-coach taking the helm, but it's the reality - it started tonight. However, not all debuts would end up happy as Alaska Aces's new head coach Joel Banal's debut was spoiled by the crowd favorite Brgy. Ginebra Kings in the 37th PBA Philippine Cup sunday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Eager to bounce back from their opening day loss to Rain Or Shine ElastoPainters, the Kings showed great determination and energy from the opening tip until the final buzzer sounded, notching their first win of the season by beating Alaska Aces 83-72. 

It was a balance attack for the Kings, led by 17 points and 7 rebounds by KG Cañaleta in what was dubbed as his best game in Ginebra uniform. Mark Caguioa finished with 16 points, Mike Cortez with 12 points and JJ Helterbrand scored all of his 7 points in the early minutes of the final quarter, thus increasing their lead to 17 points; from 61-51 to 68-51. 

The Aces seems to be a bit confused on the system, managed to trim down the lead 70-63 with more than 5 minutes to play, but Caguioa ignited an 11-3 blast to put the nail in the coffin. 

Surprisingly, the Aces was led by their rookie Mac Baracael with 20 points while Sonny Thoss finished with 16. Missing in action were L.A Tenorio and Cyrus Baguio whose combined output was only 15 points. 

Rain Or Shine showed composure down the stretch by playing excellent defense, escaping Powerade Tigers 96-93, notching their second win and a share at the first spot (with Petron) at the PBA Philippine Cup. 

For the 2nd time in as many games, the ElastoPainters was in another closely fought games, but they have shown composure on both games; one against Brgy. Ginebra Kings and doing the same thing tonight versus Powerade.

Rookie Paul Lee once again showed another explosive game despite having 3 early fouls in the first half, scoring 19 points, grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing off 3 assists, but it was the defensive efforts of Jeff Chan that ensured the Painters the win, preventing the Tigers from sending the game into overtime.

Gary David got the loose ball after the intentional miss of his teammate Celino Cruz, but his attempt from the right corner to tie the game was spoiled by Jeff Chan. He managed to recover the ball, but he's shot didn't even hit the rim. Chan also finished the game with 19 points.

Doug Kramer led Powerade Tigers with 16 points while Gary David only managed to score 14 points, after scoring 31 points in their opening games vs. Shopinas.

The scores:

Rain or Shine 96 - Lee 19, Chan 19, Norwood 11, Arana 10, Quinahan 9, Rodriguez 8, Belga 7, Buenafe
6, Ibanes 3, Cruz 2, Matias 2.

Powerade 93 - Kramer 16, David 14, Anthony 13, Lingganay 12, Lassiter 12, Calimag 11, Cruz 7,
Martinez 3, Adducul 3, Crisano 2, Allera 0, Antonio 0.

Quarterscores: 21-21, 40-39, 68-65, 96-93.

The 37th Season PBA Philippine Cup is now on its 2nd week of its playing date, as four teams will slug it out to improve their standings as season opener winner Rain Or Shine will player against Powerade Tigers who also won its debut game against Shopinas, in the first game. The second game will be the crowd favorite Brgy. Ginebra Kings, looking to bounce back from their loss against the ElastoPainters 1 week ago, versus the post-tim cone Alaska Aces in the second game.

Game starts at 4:15 p.m at the Ynares Center Antipolo City, telecast live on AKTV-IBC 13.