Alaska didn’t ask for much from import Romeo Travis the last time out, but facing a serious contender in Barangay Ginebra on Friday night was an entirely different situation that the Aces were in.

And the import initially described as Lebron James’ high school teammate showed everyone his real worth on Friday night.

Travis jumpstarted the Alaska offense with 11 first quarter points and helped the Aces win in wire-to-wire style with a 108-99 clipping of the new-look Gin Kings to stay tied for the lead in the young PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

The 6-foot-5 left-hander finished with 21 points in the first half alone, easily eclipsing his debut total as the Aces asked him to take charge against the strong Ginebra squad beefed up by a prolific import in Orlando Johnson.

Alaska opened up with 14-0 lead, bloated this to as large as 39-17 early in the second before holding off a series of rallies by the short-handed Ginebra crew to tie Globalport at 2-0.

The Batang Pier earlier ran roughshod over listless newcomer Blackwater, 100-76, after the returning Stanley Pringle scored all of his 18 points in the middle two periods and Terrence Romeo finished with 20 points.

It was certainly a cold way for Frankie Lim to begin his tenure as the new head coach of Ginebra, and not helping his bid any was the absence of Japeth Aguilar, Chris Ellis and the 7-foot Greg Slaughter.

That made Johnson carry much of the offensive load for the Gin Kings, debuting with 50 points but getting little help from Ginebra’s locals.

Only Mark Caguioa finished in twin digits for the Kings with 14 and with their big men out of the game, Ginebra got mangled badly in the battle off the boards, 47-34.

Aguilar was out because of a hamstring pull, Ellis with an undisclosed leg injury and Slaughter got injured in practice on the eve of Ginebra’s debut that he showed up with his right foot in a cast.

“That team will be very dangerous,” Alaska coach Alex Compton said out of respect for Ginebra. “It was just very fortunate for them that they weren’t healthy tonight.”

Travis, whom Compton played in a limited time on Tuesday with their victory over Blackwater being very lopsided, finished with 34 points and 16 rebounds and clearly showed that he has the game to dominate in this league.

He also held the team together when the Kings tried coming back several times, a facet of his game that did not escape the attention of Compton.

“He had a tremendous game today,” Compton, also a very smart player during his playing years, said of his import. “He’s like a general in the court, he sees everything and he talks to everyone,”

Travis played just 28 minutes against Blackwater and scored just 18 points.

Meanwhile, Globalport improved on its finest-ever conference start with the win over the Elite, who have dropped two straight games in such ugly styles that they don’t look like contenders at all.

Pringle, out of the last four Globalport games dating back to the Commissioner’s Cup because of a severe ankle sprain, came off the bench late in the first period and ran amuck in the second and third periods.

And with Romeo shooting hot yet again, the Batang Pier actually saw very little need for Asian import Omar Krayem and won with plenty to spare even with the 7-foot-1 Patrick O’Bryant contributing just 11 points and 11 rebounds.

“We’re still trying to pace him,” Globalport coach Pido Jarencio said of Pringle, the first player picked out of the Rookie Draft this season.

“But you all saw IT, he was very eager (when he got the chance to play),” Jarencio added. “I actually tried holding him back a bit.”

Meanwhile, defending champion Purefoods sees action for the first time on Saturday, colliding with NLEX at 3:15 p.m. shortly after San Miguel Beer and Meralco collide in the 3 p.m. contest.

The Star Hotshots will be putting the last of three titles they won last season on the line starting with the game against the Road Warriors.