ALASKA came up with a win, but still did not exactly play to coach Alex Compton's liking.
No wonder Compton was visibly subdued following his Aces' 104-94 victory over Columbian Wednesday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
"We won the game, but I'm really unhappy right now, the way we played," said Compton in the post-game press conference.
"I think we're a stronger team than Columbian, but I don't think that we played the way we were supposed to play," added Compton.
Still, his Aces did enough on both ends to notch their sixth win in eight games.
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Mike Harris was the main bright spot for Alaska with game-highs of 44 points and 27 rebounds while Vic Manuel led the locals who did their part in their bounce-back from a sorry 73-83 loss to Magnolia Ang Pambansang Manok last Sunday.
Compton remains far from pleased. "We rely on Mike too much," he said.
"No disrespect to any team, but my concern is my team," added Compton. "I think that we could lose to a better team and not feel the way I'm feeling right now. "
Indeed, Alaska was supposed to have it easy and play much better than it did in bowing to Magnolia.
For a long while, the Aces did seem to be well on their way to a rout when they erected as much as an 84-64 lead. But again they seemingly lost their fire in stretches, enabling the Dyip to close in.
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Good thing Columbian simply did not have the manpower nor experience to sustain its fightback that fell way short.
Akeem Wright paced the Dyip with a near-triple double of 19 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists while Jackson Corpuz also had 19 markers off the bench.
Usual main men Jerramy King and Rashawn McCarthy were held down to only a combined 21 points, however, 15 below their usual joint efforts, as the Dyip dropped their ninth game as they stretched their winless spell in the season-ending tourney to 23 games.
Despite nursing a sore foot and plagued by flu-like symptoms, Manuel still finished with 16 points and six boards with Chris Banchero adding 10 points and 11 assists and and Jayvee Casio also chipping in 10 points.
Most of the damage was inflicted by Harris, who admitted to badly wanting to atone for the loss to Magnolia.
"Last game I was a little bit frustrated. I was taking it from the outside when I should have been going strong inside," said the former NBA campaigner, who went 17 of 24 from the field, including 2-of-4 from deep.
"Tonight I was able to establish myself in the paint early and my teammates were always looking to find me." (NC)
The scores:
Alaska 104 - Harris 44, Manuel 16, Banchero 10, Casio 10, Baclao 6, Thoss 6, Enciso 4, Exciminiano 4, Racal 2, Teng 2, Pascual 0.
Columbian 94 - Wright 19, Corpuz 19, King 14, Celda 11, Reyes 8, McCarthy 7, Lastimosa 6, Tubid 6, Khobuntin 2, Ababou 2, Escoto 0, Cabrera 0.
Quarters: 33-24, 53-43, 85-72, 104-94.
