PBA: San Mig Coffee Mixers inflict first loss on Alaska Aces

(Updated 10:07pm) For whatever reason, former Alaska Aces head coach Tim Cone knows exactly what to do to get the win against his old team. Cone's San Mig Coffee Mixers became the first team to smear the previously-undefeated Aces' record, via a  75-68 win, Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Cone improved to 7-0 against his old squad, while upping the record of his Mixers to 3-3, good for a tie with the Meralco Bolts and Barako Bull Energy Cola after a 0-3 start. Alaska on the other hand took a step back to 5-1, falling into a tie with the idle Petron Blaze Boosters. "They didn't shoot the ball well tonight," said San Mig Coffee head coach Tim Cone. "We had a bunch of accidental defenses where Casio didn't hit wide open shots in the first half. We spent the game trying to exploit mismatches and jumping on Denzel's [Bowles] back." Alaska looked like a ghost of itself and was lost on offense, trailing by as much as 24 points to a San Mig Coffee quintet that moved the ball well and clogged the interior against the Aces. Entering the fourth quarter in a 23-point hole, the Aces couldn't make a game of it until RJ Jazul threatened San Mig Coffee with a triple, 69-57, with four minutes to play. The bucket triggered a 9-4 run, as Dondon Hontiveros sank a baseline jumper with under two and a half minutes remaining, 73-63. Jazul added two charities after drawing a foul on Barocca, 73-65, but import Denzel Bowles exacted revenge with a put-back tomahawk dunk. Bowles then denied his counterpart Robert Dozier's lay-up attempt on the other end, to keep his side's 10-point lead intact, 75-65, with just over a minute left on the clock. In between San Mig Coffee turnovers, Casio nailed a trey to cut his side's deficit to seven, but his second attempt with around 20 seconds remaining hit the front of the rim, leaving no chance for a fairytale comeback for Alaska. Bowles was given Player of the Game honors to go with his 16 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. James Yap registered 11 points and six rebounds, albeit on 4-of-13 shooting, while Mark Barroca, Joe Devance and PJ Simon combined for 30 points on 13-of-23 attempts from the field. Cone explained that his team was pumped tonight to play Alaska. "I've been on those five, six game winning streaks," he said. "You put that target on your chest and everybody's gunning for you. Tonight we were desperate for a win and everyone's trying to get momentum." "I told my team we gotta get to .500 first before we can talk about making the playoffs or winning the championship," Cone added. "Hopefully we can get two or three games above that then fight for a good playoff position." A frantic start saw both teams begin with balanced scoring, though Cyrus Baguio and Sonny Thoss combined for six to give Alaska an early 10-9 advantage. With just over four minutes to play, PJ Simon hit a trey for San Mig Coffee, but the Mixers' offense quickly went bitter and that would be their last field goal of the quarter. Robert Dozier replied with back-to-back makes, and the Aces kept a 18-12 lead after the first quarter. Simon made amends in the second period, as he and Denzel Bowles picked apart Alaska for eight unanswered points. Leo Najorda and James Yap got in the mix after forcing the Aces into turnovers. The Mixers then capped the run in sweet fashion with a Yancy De Ocampo triple and a technical free throw off a call on Alaska head coach Luigi Trillo, 30-22. Alaska started to turn things around when Baguio gave the Aces their first field goal with under five minutes left, making two to sandwich a jumper by Thoss. But the swingman picked up his fourth personal foul while contesting a three-ball by Yap, though the Mixers' marquee player made just two of three, 34-28. With Baguio on the bench, Alaska limped towards the halftime mark despite getting open looks. De Ocampo, Bowles and Andy Barroca chipped in for a double-digit lead entering the break, 40-28. In the second quarter, San Mig Coffee made 9-of-14 shots from the field. In contrast, Alaska was only 3-of-18 from the field (16.7 percent). The third period saw both teams' front courts trade baskets down low. The Aces found some success isolating Robert Dozier, while San Mig Coffee moved the ball between Joe Devance, Mark Pingris and Denzel Bowles. Yap also was in the mix, tossing in his team's third three-pointer as San Mig Coffee began to pull away, 51-34. In the last five minutes the Mixers seemed to get whatever they wanted, scoring in most situations that the Aces threw at them. Four different Mixers cobbled together an 11-5 run to close the quarter with a 62-39 lead. Since a drive by Dozier at the 8:47 mark, Alaska missed its last 11 shot attempts in the third and went 3-for-18 again in the period. The Aces tallied a 5-of-9 clip from the free throw line as well in the third period. When the dust settled, the Aces were a poor 22-of-72 mark from the field (30.6 percent). Alaska also misfired horribly from beyond the arc, making only 3-of-18 attempts (16.7 percent). Meanwhile, San Mig Coffee managed a respectable 28-of-70 clip from the floor (40 percent) and 6-of-15 from downtown (40 percent). Robert Dozier top-scored for Alaska with 16 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks. Sonny Thoss added 13 points and six rebounds, while RJ Jazul tallied 10 points. Calvin Abueva ended up with six points but missed all his seven field goals. Meanwhile, Cyrus Baguio and JV Casio combined for 10 points on 4-of-19 shooting. There'll be no rest for the Aces though, as they'll immediately do battle for to become the sole team at the top of the standings when they play the Petron Blaze Boosters on Friday. San Mig Coffee on the other hand could further bury the 1-5 Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and improve beyond .500 when they match-up on Sunday. - AMD, GMA News The scores: SAN MIG COFFEE 75 - Bowles 16, Yap 11, Barroca 10, Devance 10, Simon 10, Najorda 6, Pingris 6, De Ocampo 5, Reavis 1, Mallari 0, Gaco 0, Gonzales 0. ALASKA 68 - Dozier 16, Thoss 13, Jazul 10, Espinas 8, Baguio 7, Abueva 6, Hontiveros 5, Casio 3, Ramos 0, Dela Cruz 0. Quarters: 12-18, 40-28, 62-39, 75-68