TNT SCRAPES PAST ROS, MOVES UP TO 3RD
Talk n Text recovered after squandering a 21-point spread, standing its ground in a battle at the finish and coming through with a 90-87 win over Rain or Shine in the PLDT myDSL PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Tuesday night.
Ranidel de Ocampo put Talk n Text back on top, 89-86, with a jumper and a charity, before Kelly Williams clinched the win with a steal of Gabe Norwood’s inbound to Jeff Chan in the closing seconds.
“It’s a huge win mainly because Rain or Shine is a very strong team. It’s a big win and hopefully we can build on it,” said Talk n Text coach Norman Black after they survived Rain or Shine’s spirited fightback and moved up to third place at 4-2.
The E-Painters, gallantly wiping out a 21-point deficit at 23-44 but failing to close out the game in the end, dropped to joint fourth with the GlobalPort Batang Pier at 4-3.
“We’re coming off a loss and we had nine days to think about it. I’d rather play right away,” said Black.
But the Texters came out strong and outgunned the E-Painters in a toe-to-toe battle at endgame, thus, bouncing back from a two-point loss to the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings the last time out.
De Ocampo topscored with 20 points and played the fireman’s role, making the most important baskets in the game.
The 6-foot-6 forward fired away eight points in the payoff quarter, none bigger than a straight-away 15-footer shattering the 86-all deadlock with 58 ticks left.
The E-Painters waged a big chase in the second half, finally pulling even at 79-all on a reverse layup by Norwood and surging ahead at 83-82 on an inside-the-key jumper by Jervy Cruz.
The Texters, however, won’t be rattled and kept the E-Painters from pulling off what could have been the biggest come-from-behind win of the season.
Jayson Castro and Sean Anthony led Talk n Text’s early breakaway and finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Danny Seigle and Harvey Carey, meanwhile, delivered huge off-the-bench performances with the former delivering nine points and the same number of rebounds, and the latter getting away with 15 boards and eight markers.
Also coming off the bench, Cruz paced the E-Painters with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Holding the E-Painters to 26.3-percent shooting, the Tropang Texters dominated the first half. Anthony, Castro and Jai Reyes combined for five-of-seven three-point shooting and the whole TnT team hit at a 43.2-percent field clip as the Texters sat on a 49-35 cushion at the turn.
The Texters started strong and set the pace, taking the opening quarter at 26-18.
The E-Painters, however, came alive in the third quarter, charging to within six at 62-68. Beau Belga, Cruz, Norwood, Chan and Paul Lee fuelled RoS’s third-quarter rally as they started for the team in the second half. Lee rifled in back-to-back treys to ignite their chase. (SB)
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