MANILA, 9 November 2003 — Alaska defated Purefoods 93-88, Friday night at the Astrodome and catch the last bus to the quarterfinals of the Samsung PBA Reinforced Conference.
“Purefoods was getting the bad breaks all year and they got another bad break tonight,” said Aces coach Tim Cone, referring to the cramps that struck Hotdogs import Lenny Cooke late in the third period.
Cooke, instrumental in giving Purefoods as much as a 15-point lead in the third quarter, returned in the fourth but was hardly a factor as momentum had by then shifted in favor of Alaska.
Brandon Lee Cablay, meanwhile, was mainly responsible for that charge from a 59-74 count as he scored 13 of his total 19 points in the decisive period, including eight in 15-0 surge from a 67-77 count.
The Hotdogs, behind Kerby Raymundo, Alvin Patrimonio and Rodney Santos, tied the game thrice, the last at 86.
Then Cablay flushed a triple that snapped the ninth deadlock that sparked the Aces’ fiery wind-up and took them to a quarterfinals meeting with Sta. Lucia Realty.
The loss relegated Purefoods to an early Christmas vacation in the company of Shell.
Before getting struck by the cramps, Cooke wanted the win so badly he tried to do everything, both to fire up his teammates and get at Alaska’s nerves.
Despite missing six straight free throws in the second quarter, the former US high school phenom was dishing off magical passes, rebounding and scored 23 points in the first half, including two shotclock-beating jumpers.
On the other end, Cooke was also sticking out his tongue at Fontaine, jawing with Don Allado and Migs Noble and throwing his weight around inside the shaded lanes.
But the Aces seemed inure to Cooke’s antics and were often quicker to pounce on their opponents’ miscues.
Result was as much as a 41-32 lead midway in the second period.
The Scores:
Alaska 93 — Fontaine 27, Cablay 19, Arigo 16, Allado 9, Noble 8 , Cortez 6, Feihl 4, Duat 4, Padilla 0, Tejada 0.
Purefoods 88 — Cooke 29, Raymundo 13, Castillo 10, Santos 10, Demape 9, Evangelista 7, Patrimonio 5, Seigle 5, Mamaril 0, Yee 0, Fernandez 0.
