Monroe keeps job, leads Barako past Alaska

A few days after it brought down a powerhouse team in Barangay Ginebra, Alaska found itself falling prey to the worst team in the PBA Fiesta Cup.

Sam Monroe came back from a one-game suspension and burned the hoops for 30 points while Yousif Aljamal scored 12 points in the final period as the Barako Energy Coffee Makers pulled off a 106-98 stunner of the Aces Sunday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. It was only the second win in eight games for the Energy Coffee Masters, but their inspired effort snapped Alaska’s three-game winning streak (3-3). The Aces are fresh from an 86-81 come-from-behind victory over the Kings. Monroe, rumored to be on the way out, also grabbed 14 rebounds and came through with nine points in the payoff period, his last field goal coming in the last 58.5 seconds pushed Barako Coffee to a 102-98 lead. Aljamal would complement Monroe a few seconds later, burying a cold-blooded three-pointer after Diamon Simpson muffed a simple reverse try in Alaska’s last play, putting the Coffee Makers in safer grounds, 105-98, 36 ticks left. "We kept our composure," said Monroe. "The whole team was confident. We want to win games. We don’t want to be last. I see progress if we continue the hard work." The win was just the third in the last 22 games for Barako Coffee, but at least assured Monroe that he’ll be staying with the team for now. "There were rumors (Monroe being replaced)," said coach Junel Baculi. "I talked to him and I said ‘It’s just a norm, If we’re losing we put the blame on the import. Everybody gets blamed. And I told him that that’s not true.’" The Aces made a serious run in the payoff period, but were stymied when they missed five straight free-throws in the final four minutes. Reynel Hugnatan missed three free throws while Simpson muffed two, including the foul shots that could have tied the game at 100 with 1:53 to go in the game. Leo Najorda shot 7-of-11 from the floor to finish with 18 points while Reed Juntilla tied his career-high with 16. Aljamal ended up with 15, with his crucial three-pointer being the last in the total of 12 – a season high for the franchise – Barako connected from downtown. Barako, which also played minus Rob Wainwright, also had fewer turnovers (10-8) and shot better from the field, hitting 18 of its 41 tries (43.9 percent), while Alaska bungled a lot of easy baskets and shot 39.5 percent (15-of-38) from the floor. Simpson led Alaska with 24 points and 17 rebounds while Joe Devance added 17 markers on a 7-of-9 clip from the field. Playing his second game with the Aces after a sensational debut in the team’s victory over Ginebra Friday, Cyrus Baguio scored 13, 11 coming in the second half. – GMANews.TV