Alaska stuns Magnolia to grab 1st win in PBA bubble

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

The Alaska Aces re-kindled their flame after shocking the Magnolia Hotshots, 87-81, to notch their first win in the PBA restart.

JVee Casio turned back the hands of time after boosting Alaska with a 17-point performance. Casio has averaged only 5 points in their first two games in the bubble.

The veteran sniper delivered a clutch performance after draining a huge triple to increase their cushion, 79-75, while blocking Jackson Corpuz’s attempt to ice the game for his squad.

Jeron Teng also came up big for the Aces, contributing 19 points while grabbing 6 rebounds and exposed Magnolia’s undersized guards throughout the game.

The trio of Mark Barroca, Jio Jalalon, and Chris Banchero had a hard time guarding Teng who imposed his will during post-up situations and man-handled them underneath.

Magnolia tried to claw their way back into the ball game after tough baskets from Barroca with 1 minute left but the Aces pulled-off the stops they needed to grab the momentum-boosting win.

Paul Lee came in hot to start the third quarter after firing back-to-back triples but went silent in the final frame to finish the game with 14 points.