MANILA, 19 July 2003 — The Alaska Aces streaked to their second straight victory beating the Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs, 99-79, at the Cuneta Astrodome, and stayed on track to nailing the one seat in the forthcoming Samsung Invitational Championship.
Ali Peek was a force inside the paint scoring a game-high 29 points to go with 13 rebounds in 32 minutes of action for the Aces.
The Aces outscored the Hotdogs 22-11 in the pivotal third to roar to a 73-55 lead going into the payoff fourth quarter. Alaska continued to pour it on, posting their biggest margin of 25 points, 89-64, with 6:25 to go in the game. At that point the Aces used up the rest of their bench to give some playing time to Stephen Padilla, Eugene Tejada and Migs Noble.
The Alaska Aces almost put the game away as early as the first period when they bolted ahead, 25-13. But Cone chose to experiment with Brandon Cablay at the point and Migs Noble at the small forward spot.
The experiment almost proved costly as the Hotdogs came charging back to cut the gap to only one point, 38-37, with only 2 minutes to go in the first half. It took a 7-0 run to finish the quarter to push the Aces to a more comfortable, 45-37, halftime lead.
Meanwhile, the Shell Turbo Chargers kept alive a mathematical but slim chance for the last berth in the Samsung Invitational Championships after beating the Sta. Lucia Realtors, 87-76, in the first game.
The Turbo Chargers hiked their record to 2-1. On top of the standings are the Alaska Aces at 2-0. Barangay Ginebra and Sta. Lucia follow with a win and a loss each. Purefoods are at the bottom with its 0-3 slate. The loss of the Realtors left the Alaska Aces — who have two they sweep all of their remaining matches or if they beat Sta. Lucia and Shell beats Ginebra tomorrow.
