Simpson leads Aces past Express

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[Watch the Alaska Aces battle the Derby Ace Llamados 5 p.m., Saturday, April 17 in Cagayan de Oro City.
Listen to the live interview of Alaska Aces Diamon Simpson and Brandon Cablay on MBC Sports Center, 6 to 7 p.m., April 25, Sunday over dzRH radio 666 on the AM band; simulcast on TV over RHTV on Sun cable TV; and on the Internet on dzrh.tripod.com and dzrh.prepys.com.]
 
Diamon Simpson dominated at both ends of the court to lead the Alaska Aces past the Air21 Express, 105-95, in the 2010 PBA Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last Wednesday.
 
Simpson scored a game-high 29 points, grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and tallied a game-high three blocks, to go with three assists and one steal, to tow the Aces to their first victory this conference.
 
With the victory the Aces (1 win, 2 losses) improved to seventh place in the standings. The Express (1-4) slid into a triple tie at eighth place with the Sta. Lucia Realtors (1-4) and the Barako Energy Coffee Masters (1-4).
 
The other teams include the Coca-Cola Tigers (4-1), the San Miguel Beermen (4-1), the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings (3-1), the Talk n Text Tropang Texters (3-2), the B-MEG Derby Ace Llamados (2-1) and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (2-2).
Tony Dela Cruz who had 15 points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals was adjudged Best Player of the Ball Game.
The Express showed up with new import Jason Forte who gave a good account of himself with 20 points and 14 rebounds. But the Aces were fully prepared for Forte who was simply overwhelmed by the bigger, stronger Simpson.

We were already familiar with the game of Jason (Forte) because we played him twice in Cebu with the Ninos. I have known him for six years and scouted him along with Galen Young in the CBA. So we had a pretty good scouting report about him, said Alaska coach Tim Cone.
 
He (Forte) did not really get that chance to come in and play against someone who did not know him. I guess they just picked the wrong team to play against. He is a great character guy. Everywhere he goes teams just rave about his character and how hard he plays.
Cone said he expects Forte and the Express to improve once they have grown more familiar playing with each other.
It is just tough he (Forte) had to go up against Diamon and our big lineup. Against any other team with a smaller lineup he would be very effective. He is a great guy and he is great player. It will be very interesting how Yeng (Guiao) uses him in the future because he has skills.
 
PBA referees again showed their shocking ignorance of game situations. Brandon Cablay playfully tossed the ball at the back of good friend Mike Cortez and the referees slapped Cablay with a flagrant foul penalty two.
 
Cablay was tossed out of the game with 3:11 to go in the third period while Ronjay Buenafe converted the two free throws to push his team ahead, 62-59.
 
Poor Brandon, he was tossed out of the game for throwing the ball at his best friend (Cortez), said Cone. It his best friend out there and they were having some fun and he got penalized for it. But I told Brandon that when you are playing there are no friends. I told him that was a huge mistake which could have cost us the game.
 
Dela Cruz drilled a long triple to push the Aces to a 73-70 lead after the third period.
 
The Aces pulled away for good early in the fourth period. Sonny Thoss converted a layup plus the bonus free throw to cap a 12-2 Aces run which effectively put the game away as the Aces led, 93-82 with just five minutes to go in the game.
Thoss finished with 16 points two rebounds, one block, one steal and one assist.
Willie Miller had 15 points, four assists and one rebound.
LA Tenorio had 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Cablay had nine points and two rebounds.
Joe Devance had another well-rounded game with six points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Larry Fonacier had five points, five rebounds and two assists.
Sam Eman had five rebounds and two assists.
Reynel Hugnatan had two rebounds and two assists.
 
The scores:
Alaska 105 - Diamon Simpson 29, Sonny Thoss 16, Tony Dela Cruz 15, Willie Miller 15, LA Tenorio 10, Brandon Cablay 9, Joe Devance 6, Larry Fonacier 5, Sam Eman 0, Reynel Hugnatan 0.
Air 21 95 - Jason Forte 20, Ronjay Buenafe 19, Mike Cortez 11, Beau Belga 10, Egay Billones