TALK ‘N TEXT FORGES SUDDEN-DEATH SUNDAY AGAINST SAN MIG COFFEE
Talk ‘N Text kept its composure in the endgame to take an 82-77 win over San Mig Coffee Friday, forcing a winner-take-all Game 3 in their best-of-three quarterfinals series in the 2014 PLDT myDSL-PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Jayson Castro had 12 of his 20 points in the second half to surge Talk ‘N Text ahead to a lead as big as 14, while Ryan Reyes delivered two crucial three-pointers within the last three minutes to keep San Mig Coffee at bay. He finished with 13 points,
Nino Canaleta bounced back from his sluggish first game with 13 markers, while Danny Seigle had 11 for the Tropang Texters who forged a sudden-death Game 3 Sunday at the Cuneta Astrodome.
“The biggest difference today is that we had two days of practice with KG Canaleta and with the returning players in the sick leave, Ryan (Reyes), Noy (Baclao), and Kelly (Williams),” said Talk ‘N Text head coach Norman Black after the game.
“When we first played San Mig Coffee, KG just practiced with us for one day, and we didn’t really do much on that day, and he played Ginebra (with Air21) the day before. Also, the doctors only gave the ok for the three others to play on Monday. So two days of practice really helped us a big deal in terms of execution and continuity especially on defense,” Black added.
“We figured it out already that we won’t beat San Mig Coffee if we didn’t play defense. That’s really the key to this series. They’re a really a good defensive team, and you’re not going to score many points against them, so we have to play good defense and defend them as best as we can,” Black also said.
The Tropang Texters jumped to an early 15-2 advantage, but the Coffee Mixers were able to level the score at 19 and even took the lead as the first period came to an end.
After a see-saw second quarter, Talk ‘N Text once again jumped ahead courtesy of a 7-0 blast in the first two minutes of the third, giving itself breathing room until the endgame when the Mixers made several last-ditch stands.
San Mig Coffee got to as close as six points numerous times in the fourth, but Castro and Reyes came up with the heroics to once again push Talk ‘N Text ahead.
Mark Barroca rallied the Coffee Mixers for one last time with a three-pointer with 56.1 ticks to play to pull them to within 73-79, but after Castro muffed a trey on their end, Peter June Simon’s corner three rolled out of the ring with 25 seconds remaining that spelled doom for the boys of head coach Tim Cone.
“I think we can play a lot better,” Black also said. “I felt we had enough time to jell a little bit going into Game 3 on Sunday. We’re just going to work on our execution and hopefully, we’ll get the win on Sunday.”
Joe Devance led the Mixers with 13 points, while Barroca finished with 12 markers. Simon also had 12, while Rafi Reavis had a double-double with his 12 points and 15 rebounds in a game where two-time MVP James Yap finished with just five markers on a 2-for-11 shooting from the field.
The winner of the do-or-die affair between Talk ‘N Text and San Mig Coffee will meet the winner of the other win-or-go home quarterfinal game between Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the Alaska Aces Saturday in a best-of-seven semifinal that will begin on Tuesday. (RL)
The scores:
TALK ‘N TEXT 82 – Castro 20, Reyes R. 13, Canaleta 13, Seigle 11, De Ocampo 9, Williams 8, Peek 4, Fonacier 2, Carey 2, Aban 0, Baclao 0, Alapag 0.
SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE 77 – Devance 13, Barroca 12, Simon 12, Reavis 12, Mallari 7, Pingris 6, Melton 6, Yap 5, Sangalang 4, De Ocampo 0.
Quarterscores: 19-21, 38-34, 62-52, 82-77
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