In a gigantic upset, the bottom-dwelling Red Bull Barakos brought down the league-leading Alaska Aces, 100-80, Wednesday night to snap their all-time franchise worst eight-game losing streak in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup. In the game that followed, the Talk N Text Tropang Texters rallied from several double-digit leads in the first half to humble the upstart Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 92-83. Two unheralded bench players – rookie Jeffrei Chan and Mike Holper – carried the brunt of the offense for the Barakos as they notched only their fourth win in 15 games. Chan nailed a career-high 23 points while Holper collected 12 points and 10 rebounds – his second career double-double and first with Red Bull. Despite the win, Red Bull remained at the tail-end of the standings, a full game behind the Coca-Cola Tigers (5-10). It was a frustrating loss for the Aces who were expected to handily repeat over the lowly Barakos and firm up their hold of first place in the leaderboard. But despite its fifth loss in 15 games, Alaska remained at the helm, a game ahead of idle San Miguel and Talk N Text, both with 9-6 win-loss slate. The high-flying Aces, who tripped Red Bull 89-83 in their first meeting last Oct. 16, suffered their second loss in their last three games. Unlike their previous games where they collapsed in the final quarter, the Barakos sustained their firepower and air-tight defense until the last moments of their game against the Aces. “Tonight we played a good fourth quarter,” said a visibly relieved Red Bull head coach Yeng Guiao. “It always feels good to beat Alaska. I guess we just got lucky,” he said. Chan shone brightest for the Barakos as he made mincemeat of the defense put on him by veteran Alaska guard Jeffrey Cariaso. He scored 7-of-15 from the field, sinking five of 10 three-point shots. He also had three assists and two steals to earn for himself the Player of the Game award. Holper, formerly from the Barangay Ginebra Kings, also made a good account of himself as he helped the Barakos outrebound the Aces, 58-50. Willie Miller scored only 13 points, hitting a miserable 5-of-17 from the field. Overall, the Aces converted only 39 percent of their shots. Adding to their misery, the Aces had 24 errors – with Miller committing his team's first five errors in the first quarter. Red Bull converted those errors into 23 easy points. In the second game of the double-header played at the Araneta Coliseum, Jimmy Alapag and Mark Cardona struck hardest for Talk N Text as they jointly topscored with 24 points apiece. The win enabled the Texters to tie the Beermen at second place while the loss dropped the Painters to solo fourth with a 9-7 slate. Alapag shot 6-of-11 from beyond the three-point arc while also grabbing five rebounds, three assists and committing only one turnover in the game. Cardona grabbed eight rebounds and had two assists. __
