Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — High-flying Chris “Air Force” Ellis stole the limelight from debuting two-time NBA champion Josh Powell to power the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings to a rousing 88-78 victory over the Meralco Bolts Wednesday night in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. With the Kings ahead by just a whisker, 71-70, Ellis scored 10 straight points on a variety of shots — a fastbreak layup, two free throws, then back-to-back three-pointers — late in the final quarter to lead an 18-3 run that sealed only the third victory for Ginebra in seven outings. Ellis finished with 16 points — the same output dished out by Powell, Ginebra's new import who replaced the high-scoring but ineffective Leon Rodgers. Powell won two NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. Arriving in Manila from the US less than 48 hours before gametime, Powell added 15 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks in his first game in the PBA. The Kings still remained in the bottom half of the standings, tying the Bolts at seventh to eighth place, with only two games left in their elimination round schedule — against the Alaska Aces on April 13 and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on April 20. Powell played tenacious defense but could not do much offensively in the endgame as he was gasping for breath. Fortunately, Ellis caught fire, and so did Greg Slaughter who finished with 15 points, 11 of them in the fourth quarter. The 6'11” Ginebra center also had seven rebounds in his best game yet in the conference. Mark Caguioa played aggressively all night long, finishing with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. LA Tenorio and Josh Urbiztondo added 10 points apiece. Tenorio added five rebounds and six assists. New import Darnell Jackson, who also played in the NBA, led Meralco with 25 points and 18 rebounds. Gary David chipped in with 18 points and five rebounds, while Jared Dillinger had 11 points and four boards. Despite an import replacement, Meralco suffered its second straight loss heading into the All-Star break on April 4-6. One casualty of Ginebra's victory was GlobalPort (0-7) who dropped out of the elimination round with still two games left in their schedule. Alaska 78, Barako Bull 71: The Alaska Aces rolled to their third straight win, frustrating the Barako Bull Energy, 78-71, in the first match. Alaska improved to 4-3, good for solo fourth in the standings. The Energy suffered their fifth loss in seven matches and are now on the brink of elimination in the ninth place. The Aces limited prolific Barako Bull import Josh Dollard to just 26 points, below his scoring average of 35. Employing air-tight defense, the Aces held the Energy to below 36 percent shooting. But it was still anybody's game in the last minute after Dollard converted two free throws to cut Alaska's lead to just three points, 70-67. But JVee Casio drilled a clutch jumper to pad Alaska's lead to five points. The Aces then forced a Barako Bull turnover to secure the victory. Veteran import Robert Dozier led the Aces with 18 points, Gabby Espinas added 14 while Casio chipped in with 10 points. Mick Pennisi was the only other double-digit scorer for Barako Bull, finishing with 12 points. Events Friday for the 2014 PBA All-Star Weekend: Skills Challenge, Greats vs. Stalwarts. Sunday: PBA All-Stars vs. Gilas Pilipinas. Games Wednesday (April 9): Air21 vs. San Mig Coffee and Talk N Text vs. Rain or Shine.
