MANILA: The long wait for Rosell Ellis’ return finally ended - and so did Alaska’s losing streak.
Ellis, just two days after getting off a plane, scored 26 points, had 16 rebounds and five assists to lead the Aces to their first win in the Fiesta Cup, 94-84, over Purefoods last night which put and end to Alaska’s three-game slide.
The 6-foot-4 lefty, who led Alaska to the championship here two years ago, has the task of turning over the Aces’ fortunes this season.
And after a 0-3 start and with very little promise of things getting better with Galen Young as their import, the Aces have suddenly showed the potential to again dominate.
“We’re just happy to have him back,” coach Tim Cone said of Ellis, who played 40 minutes and was the main reason why the Aces played with a lot of confidence. “I just hope his return puts us back in the championship picture.”
Cone spent a lot of time inside the Araneta Coliseum press room, telling stories on how well Ellis played for the Townsville Crocs in the National Basketball League in Australia, home before coming over.
“His team there was supposed to be kulelat (doormat),” Cone said. “But when Ro (Ellis) arrived, things changed for them and they went all the way to the semifinals to lose to eventual champion Melbourne South.
“Basically, that’s also his job description here.”
“I want to thank Galen (Young) from the bottom of my heart,” Cone said. “I think he’ll be a coach next season in the CBA and his mindset was into coaching and not so much on playing. He’s really not in game shape when he came.”
Young played in Alaska ‘s first three games while the Aces waited for Ellis to finish his contract in Australia . All of those games were Alaska losses and Young never got to finish any of them, fouling out each time. LA Tenorio added 15 markers and had eight of Alaska’s final 10 points inside the last 3:06 as he helped thwart several uprising by the Giants, who absorbed their second straight loss after a 2-0 start.
Kerby Raymundo led Purefoods with 19 points while James Yap and Peter June Simon contributed 18 and 16, respectively for the Giants. Import Brian Hamilton had a quiet 10-point night and was scoreless in the final quarter.
The Giants last threatened at 79-84 after a Yap lay-up with 3:27 left before Tenorio countered with a tear-drop from the deep left side of the basket that ignited a 10-5 windup and eventually, made Cone the winningest coach in the PBA.
Cone won his 602nd game and surpassed Baby Dalupan as No. 1 on the all-time list. It’s an achievement, though, that the outspoken American tried very hard to downplay.
“If you add his (Dalupan) record in the MICAA up to the PBA, it’s unsurpassable. It’s not really how many games but the winning percentage” said Cone. “Baby’s the legend and deserves to be the legend. He’ll always be my hero.”
In improving to 1-3, the Aces got out of the cellar and now share eighth place with idle Barako Bull and Coca-Cola, which became the fourth straight team to fall to powerhouse San Miguel later in the night.
Wesley Gonzales started out at one of the forward spots and paced the Beermen with 20 points and import Gabriel Freeman, despite being in foul trouble most of the night, scattered 13 and had 13 boards in just 24 minutes.
It was the third straight lopsided victory for the Beermen and their fourth straight overall, counting their first game, a 93-89 triumph over Alaska which they pounded out even without an import.
“We still have a lot of room for improvement,” coach Siot Tanquingcen explained. “We were able to gut out way out of this game. And I think we still have great potential to improve some more.”
There were six total locals who scored 11 or better for Tanquingcen, proof of how deep his lineup is even with Marc Pingris, Lordy Tugade, Danny Seigle and Danny Ildefonso all on the injured list and Jay Washington joining them there before the start of the game. Washington, according to Tanquingcen, is suffering from back spasms and could be out for a week or two.
JJ Sullinger, who is filling in for Coca-Cola until James Penny arrives from Japan , paced the Tigers with 23 points. But he was just 1-of-9 from three-point range and was of little help in the third when the Beermen broke away. Sullinger was scoreless in that span and the Tigers were able to make a semblance of a game out of it only because Ronjay Buenafe scored 12 of his 22 points there.
