MANILA, Philippines — Crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra tries to extend its unbeaten run to five when it tangles with defending Philippine Cup champion Alaska this Sunday in what is billed as a battle between two heavyweights in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. Game time is 6:30 p.m. with Ginebra coach Jong Uichico hoping his boys won’t be complacent against a team that has been struggling lately.
The Aces dropped four straight games before snapping the losing spell with a 96-76 triumph against Powerade last Wednesday.
“They’ve been playing below par. But in their last game, they played their Alaska game,” Uichico said. “We expect them to play the same way so we can’t look back on their losing skid.”
Clashing in the opener at 4 p.m. are the Meralco Bolts and the Air21 Express.
Meralco is fresh from a stunning come-from-behind 83-71 win over Alaska last week, but the Bolts will play sans veteran Asi Taulava, who was loaned to the Smart-Gilas Pilipinas seeing action in ongoing Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
Air21, on the other hand, is looking to get back on track after dropping its last two games against Ginebra (81-107) and defending champion B-Meg Derby Ace (97-102).
The Llamados scored their third consecutive win at the expense of the Powerade Tigers, 85-73, Friday night where Roger Yap and Rico Maierhofer scored 18 points apiece, while PJ Simon added 16, and Jonas Villanueva and James Yap had 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Waylon Galvez, Manila Bulletin
