MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATED) The Alaska Aces ended a two-game slide in style on Wednesday as they overpowered the woeful Blackwater Bossing, 98-75, at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Aces racked up their third win of the 2021 PBA Governors' Cup, while keeping the Bossing winless. Blackwater now has a 0-5 record in the conference, and has lost 24 consecutive games since the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup.

Alaska pounced on Blackwater's injury woes, with the Bossing getting limited input from import Jaylen Bond who apparently suffered a groin injury in the opening quarter. Bond played 23 minutes and scored just two points on 1-of-5 shooting, on top of five rebounds and three assists.

His Alaska counterpart, Olu Ashaolu, had 10 points and seven boards but was also hampered by an injury of his own. The Aces got plenty of contributions from their locals, however, with Maverick Ahanmisi putting up 17 points and eight rebounds, while Jeron Teng had 14 points and eight boards.

The Aces entered the game having lost back-to-back games to Barangay Ginebra and TNT Tropang GIGA.

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"I think one of our main focus was to not turn the ball over as much. I don't know how many we had tonight; I'm sure we had a few. But I'm almost certain that it's not as much as the last two games," said Alaska coach Jeff Cariaso, whose team had 20 turnovers against Ginebra, and 23 against TNT.

Against Blackwater, they had 17 turnovers.

"We felt like going into this game, basta we're close to our A-game, then we feel that good things will happen for us," he also said.

The Bossing, who are still missing veteran point guard JVee Casio, got off to a strong start and led 24-21 after the first quarter. Baser Amer was solid, with two points and three assists in the opening frame.

But the Aces began to pull away in the second quarter, where they outscored Blackwater, 29-19, to take a 50-43 lead at the half. Ahanmisi, who earned Player of the Game honors, sparked a 12-0 run that turned a 36-33 Blackwater lead into a 45-36 advantage for Alaska.

Ashaolu exited with 7:47 left in the third quarter after the import "felt something in his lower extremities," according to Cariaso. The Aces were already ahead, 57-47, at that point, and they continued to outplay the Bossing even without their reinforcement.

The Alaska lead eventually reached 26 points, 99-62, after Ahanmisi converted a layup with four minutes to play in the game.

"It's always scary, 'no, 'pag kalaban mo ang isang team na hungry for a win," Cariaso said of playing against the winless Bossing. "You never know when everything is gonna kinda fall into place. So we tried to make sure that that doesn't happen to us."

"What we can control is how we defend them, how we approach ourselves mentally, and how we prepare. So doon kami nag-focus, just bringing ourselves, bringing our A-game for tonight's game," he added.

Rashawn McCarthy led Blackwater with 16 points, while Ed Daquioag added 12 markers off the bench. Amer, after his fine start, scored just five points the rest of the way, as he made just two of his last ten attempts from the field. He finished with six assists and three rebounds.

No other Blackwater player reached double-digits, as they shot just 36% from the field and were out-rebounded, 63-31. Alaska didn't shoot particularly well either, making only 39% of their shots, but they converted 30 of 37 free throws.

The scores

Alaska 98 - Ahanmisi 17, Teng 14, Herndon 12, Tolomia 12, Ashaolu 10, Digregorio 8, Tratter 7, Taha 6, Brondial 6, Publico 4, Stockton 2, Ilagan 0, Adamos 0, Marcelino 0, Racal 0.

Blackwater 75 - McCarthy 16, Daquioag 12, Baloria 9, Desiderio 8, Amer 7, Escoto 6, Ebona 6, McAloney 6, Chauca 3, Bond 2, Washington 0, Gabriel 0, Paras 0.

Quarters: 21-24, 50-43, 73-60, 98-75.

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