Former PBA Most Valuable Player Willie Miller had a triple-double and played with just enough poise to lead the Alaska Aces to a 99-83 mangling of the Barako Bull Energy Boosters Wednesday night in the 2009-2010 KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. In the second game, the Barangay Ginebra Kings walloped the San Miguel Beermen, 98-86. The Kings were led by the comebacking Mark Caguioa who scored 17 points. Earlier, Miller scored 19 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished off 12 assists to help Alaska begin its Philippine Cup campaign on a winning note. The Aces played sluggish at the start, allowing the Energy Boosters to take a 41-38 halftime lead. A team made up of role players and rookies, Barako Bull tried to stun the Aces with their speed and agility in the first half, which paid off as the Aces appeared lost and bewildered. But it was a totally different story in the second half as the Aces came out of the dugout spewing fire. They quickly outscored the E-Boosters, 32-18, with Miller draining seven points. Alaska padded its lead to 20 points, 94-74, on a split free throw by Miller with 3:39 left in the fourth quarter. Four other Aces scored in double figures – LA Tenorio had 15, Joe DeVance, 12 and Larry Fonacier and Tony De La Cruz each with 10 points. Yousif Aljamal led Barako Bull with 18 points and 125 rebounds, both career-highs for the former San Beda Red Lion ace. Alaska coach Tim Cone said during the halftime huddle, he impressed upon his boys that a loss to Barako Bull would be shocking and humiliating. “We knew that if we beat Barako Bull it's not going to make news, but if they had beaten us, that's big news. We just hit some big shots in the second half, we got rolling and got the rhythm,” Cone said. Miller admitted that he and his teammates struggled in the first half. “It seemed we got too excited playing in our first game in the tournament , so we didn't play well,” he said. Meanwhile, the Burger King Whoppers will find themselves opposing a player who was their teammate only last Sunday when they go up against the Smart-Gilas squad this Friday. Controversial top draft pick Japeth Aguilar was earlier allowed by Burger King, the team that drafted him first, to leave the squad and play with the team of his choice – the Smart Gilas unit of Serbian coach Rajko Toroman. Last week, Aguilar led Smart Gilas to a rousing 98-69 conquest of the Powerade PBA Philippine team coached by Yeng Guiao during an exhibition match. Guiao, who is also the Burger King coach, is looking forward to playing against Toroman , Aguilar and the rest of the Gilas crew in their 2 p.m. encounter. “More than we need the win, I think the game would be more interesting in the sense that there will be so much pride at stake,” said Guiao. The 6'10” Aguilar will be reunited with 7-foot American CJ Giles, the tallest and most awesome frontline in the tournament. The scores: Alaska 99 – Miller 19, Hugnatan 18, Tenorio 15, DeVance 12, Fonacier 10, De La Cruz 10, Borboran 8, Thoss 7. Barako Bull 83 – Aljamal 18, Duncil 13, Dimaunahan 9, Fernandez 7, Najorda 7, Alonzo 6, Lao 5, Menor 4, Faundo 4, Hubalde 4, Belano 2. Quarters: 20-18; 38-41; 70-59; 99
