Despite the absence of their two big guns, the Barangay Ginebra Kings still had enough firepower to overcome the Barako Bull Energy Boosters, 94-86, Friday night in the 2009-2010 KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome. With Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa sidelined by injuries, the Kings turned to Cyrus Baguio, Ronald Tubid and Rico Villanueva to score their third win in four games. The game also saw the reactivation of Johnnie Abarrientos who showed flashes of his old brilliance. Although he didn't score, Abarrientos had six assists, three rebounds and one steal in 10 minutes of action. Unfortunately, the veteran guard had to be rushed to hospital after sustaining a finger injury. Earlier, the Alaska Aces notched their sixth straight win in the conference, whipping the Burger King Whoppers, 87-73, Friday night at the Cuneta Astrodome. Willie Miller was on fire right at the start of the game, leading the Alaska charge against the Whoppers who appeared out of synch all night long. In the first game of the tripleheader, the Smart Gilas Nationals scored their first win in pro basketball, thumping the Coca-Cola Tigers, 98-93. Although it was just an exhibition with no bearing on Coke's standings, the Smart Gilas squad celebrated their first win in three games in the PBA. Chris Tiu scored 18 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to lead the Nationals. “We really had bad games against Talk N Text and Ginebra so this win is really important to us,” said Smart Gilas head coach Rajko Toroman. Mark Barroca scored 15 points, Japeth Aguilar had 14, Rabeh Al-Hussaini added 12 and C.J. Giles 11 for Smart Gilas, who are playing in the conference as part of their training for future international tournaments. The Nationals seized control of the game early and led by as many as 13 points several times in the second quarter. The Tigers tried mightily to match the Nationals' intensity, but the absence of four players – Asi Taulava, Ken Bono, Ricky Calimag and rookie Chris Ross – due to various injuries was just too much for Coca-Cola to overcome. “We made a run and tried to win but we're so depleted it hurt our rotation,” said Coca-Cola head coach Kenneth Duremdes. In the Alaska-Burger King match, Miller went a perfect 5-for-5 from long range for 13 of his 19 points in the first quarter as the Aces pulled away, 27-19, never to look back. They even padded their lead to 26 points midway in the fourth quarter. Reynel Hugnatan drilled 16 points, Joe Devance had 13 and point guard L.A. Tenorio grabbed 10 rebounds for the Aces. The Whoppers shot just 39 percent from the field, helping the Aces to keep their firm grip on the solo lead in the standings. Alaska is now just three wins away from sweeping the first round of the eliminations. __
