PBA: Forte, Tenorio, give Trillo first win as Alaska head coach

The Alaska Aces held all the answers for the Barako Bull Energy, allowing new head coach Luigi Trillo to savor his first victory as head coach of the Aces, a 104-84 thumping, Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, in the PBA Governor's Cup.

"I thought in our first game, our first quarter we were a bit flat," said Trillo, "But we worked back to basics…and it's really nice to have an import like Jason Forte and a player like LA Tenorio."

The Aces exploded early, getting out to an 11-0 run while holding the Energy without a score for more than half of the first period. Barako Bull head coach Junel Baculi needed to turn to his bench to break his side's silence, going to veteran Don Allado, who finally put his side on the board with a jumper at the 5:36 mark.

Allado's entry was the start of his team's resurgence, as they managed to outscore their opponents 12-6, to get within five, 17-12, but Alaska got a triple from Mac Baracael to help increase the distance between the two clubs, 20-12 after the first quarter.

In the second, it was all Tenorio early on, as "The Lieutenant" scored eight in a row to keep his side ahead. It wasn't enough though as Barako equalized at the 1:30 mark, on a Doug Kramer score down low.

The Energy finally got their fast taste of the lead soon after, when a technical foul was called on neophyte head coach Luigi Trillo for arguing a call, and Willie Miller dutifully canned the charity, 33-32, 1:15 remaining.

In response, hustle plays from Gabby Espinas and import Jason Forte took back the lead forcefully, with Espinas scoring a three-point play the unconventional way, missing his second free throw but scooping up the rebound and laying it in, 40-33.


After a Leo Najorda triple on the other end, Espinas kept at it, drawing a flagrant foul, an elbow to the back, from the Energy's import, Jason Peterson, while boxing out. The newly-acquired big man from the Meralco Bolts hit the two charities with a second remaining.

Unfortunately, Alaska was unable to inflate their lead even further as the returning Tony Dela Cruz committed an inbounds violation, forcing Alaska to settle for a 42-36 edge at the break.

Barako Bull kept things close in the third, with Danny Seigle hitting a crucial triple at the 2:47 mark to make it a five point game, 66-61. But off that triple, the Energy were whistled for a technical foul for delaying the game.


Tenorio connected on the bonus, and his teammates added six more to arrive at their first double-digit lead, 73-61 with 46.9 seconds left.

A Cyrus Baguio basket at the dawn of the fourth made it a 15-point game, 78-63, but Barako Bull unloaded five straight to get it down to 10 anew. In response the Aces put the Energy in their rearview mirror with back-to-back scores by Jason Forte, followed by twin scores by Tony Dela Cruz, 88-70, just under six minutes left.

And if there was any doubt still left, Forte exploded for four points on a single possession, making it 99-79 with 2:30 left, and leaving the Energy resigned to a 1-1 start to the Governor's Cup.

Alaska Aces import Jason Forte led all scorers with 29 points, while also posting 16 rebounds.

LA Tenorio meanwhile led all locals witha 21 point, six rebound, six assist game, while Gabby Espinas played pesky defense on Barako Bull's foreign player, while also chipping in 18 points and seven boards.

Jamine Peterson had 19 points but needed 19 attempts to reach it for Barako Bull. Teammate Danny Seigle added 15 points, while Willie Miller posted an all-around game of 14 points, six rebounds and five dimes for the Energy.

The Aces were on fire on the court, making 53.9 percent of their attempts from the field, versus the poor 36.9 percent mark of Barako Bull. 

The win squared both sides' record at 1-1. Alaska will try to build off their blowout when they play the Powerade Tigers on June 1, while Barako Bull will try to rebound on the same day, when they play the Commissioner's Cup champs, the B-MEG Llamados. - GMA News


The scores:

Alaska 104 - Forte 29, Tenorio 21, Espinas 18, Baguio 14, Baracael 8, Thoss 6, Dela Cruz 4, Custodio 2, Gelig 2, Eman 0, Gonzales 0, Sotto 0.

Barako Bull 84 - Peterson 19, Seigle 15, Miller 14, Najorda 9, Allado 7, Arboleda 6, Sharma 4, Tubid 3, Salvacion 3, Kramer 2, Cruz 2, Cervantes 0.

Quarter scoring: 20-12, 42-36, 76-63, 104-84


Watch FTW crew discuss the beginning of the Luigi Trillo era: