Living up to his expectations, Rod Nealy powered the Barangay Ginebra Kings to a 110-103 mauling of the Coca-Cola Tigers Wednesday night in the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Conference. The prolific import unloaded 42 points and grabbed 23 rebounds in his first game this year for the Kings. He was just an assist short of a triple-double as he dished out nine feeds. Despite Nealy's impressive showing, Ginebra had a scary moment in the final quarter as the Tigers rallied from a nine-point deficit to threaten at 98-99 on a layup by import Jayjay Sullinger. But another Jayjay – Jayjay Helterbrand -- came to the Kings' rescue as he scored seven of Ginebra's last 11 points in the last three minutes of play to seal the win for the defending champions. Sullinger led Coca-Cola with 28 points despite playing most of the second half in foul trouble. In the first of two games played at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City, bench player Jonas Villanueva played like an import for San Miguel as he led the Beermen in drubbing Philippine Cup runnerup Alaska Aces, 93-89. Villanueva, the former Far Eastern University top playmaker, knocked in a career-high score of 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting, making up for the absence of San Miguel import Nate Carter. The Beermen played without an import against the Galen Young-reinforced Alaska Aces as Carter found out minutes before game time that he was not cleared to play in the PBA. San Miguel officials said it was only yesterday when they found out that Carter had no yet secured his release papers from Saint-Etienne B.C., the professional basketball team in France where he last played. But Carter's absence hardly mattered for the Beermen as they dominated the Aces from start to finish. Young was a huge disappointment in his return to the PBA. He scored a measly 12 points and eventually fouled out. Missing shot after shot, he managed to knock in only five points for three quarters to go with his five rebounds. Dondon Hontiveros also played superbly for the Beermen, drilling in 22 markers. The Aces did give the Beermen a scare when they came back from an 18-point deficit, 58-76, to close to within three at 85-88 with 1:32 left in the game. Hontiveros, however, was there to bail out the Beermen as he converted a three-point play for a 91-85 San Miguel lead with 42.7 seconds left that. The win was San Miguel's first against Alaska in three meetings this season. The Beermen played minus injured starters Danny Ildefonso and Mark Pingris. Further decimating San Miguel's ranks, Dorian Pena and Jay Washington fouled out in the fourth quarter. Villanueva exploded for 13 points in the first half, hitting all his five attempts from the floor including 3-for-3 from behind the 3-point arc. San Miguel Beer 93 - Villanueva 27, Hontiveros 22, Custodio 13, Bono 8, Gonzales 6, Pennisi 5, Washington 4, Racela 3, Pena 3, Eman 2, Baguion 0. Alaska 89 - Devance 19, Thoss 15, Cariaso 14, Young 12, Dela Cruz 11, Hugnatan 6, Miller 5, Fonacier 4, Tenorio 3. Quarters: 25-12, 44-38, 71-56, 93
