BUMP AND GRIND. Alaska Milk's Michael Otto (left) and Kevin Ramas (right) bang bodies with Pure Foods' Edmund Reyes and Bong Ravena (partly hidden) as they go for the loose ball last night in their PBA All-Filipino Cup duel at the Astrodome. The Cowboys tripped the Milkmen, 88-63. (Freddie MANALAC)

You just have to give it to PureFoods.

With nothing to show going into their third game in the PBA All-Filipino Cup, the back-to-the wall Cowboys woke up in time with one great run in the third period last night and made last year's grand slam champion Alaska Milk look silly in an 88-63 victory that came like the first rain of May for rookie coach Eric Altamirano.

"They say winning your first game is always the hardest," exclaimed Altamirano in the aftermath of his first victory in three games. "But as they also say, there is always a first time. I just have to give it to the boys and the One up there."

Making the most out of the absence of ailing Milkman Bong Hawkins who is nursing a bad case of tonsilitis, the Cowboys cut loose with 28 points in the third quarter while limiting the Milkmen to only nine in a defensive statement that forced Alaska to 11 turnovers including two 24 second violations and one three-second ballhogging infraction by Jojo Lastimosa.

This allowed the Cowboys to pull away by as many as 23 points, 67-46 from a very tight 39-37 halftime advantage.

Alvin Patrimonio, as expected, led the Pure Foods surge with 20 points, but it was Elmer Lago, formerly of Shell, who starred for the Cowboys in the fateful stretch, burying two of his five triples for the night - the most by any player this year - to finish with 17 points.

Alaska's second defeat in three starts was its worst since a 112-81 loss to Shell in last year's All-Filipino finals. Last year, even without Hawkins, the Milkmen won four of their five games on the way to the league's third grand slam.

The Milkmen's 63-point output also tied the fifth all-time lowest in the game and was the franchise's all- time lowest. Their previous low-water mark was 68 points.

"I think we're just not ready to play yet," rued Alaska coach Tim Cone. "We've been scraping through our games. Our new players are either overly aggressive or too tense." -MANNY ANGELES

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February 22,1997
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February 21,1997
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