Talk ‘N Text wins 3rd straight, downs Star; Castro with 33
LUCENA — Jayson Castro continuously gave Talk n Text a triumphant ride in the absence of Ranidel de Ocampo, churning out a big 33-point game to power the Tropang Texters past the Star Hotshots, 91-86, in a Petron Blaze Saturday Special at the Quezon Convention Center here.
Castro struck from the long court and on daring attacks, and had defensive gems at the finish as he personally tore apart the Hotshots to get the Texters to joint first place in the 2015-2016 Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup.
The reigning back-to-back FIBA Asia best guard connected with a 5-of-9 three-point shooting and with a 12-of-24 overall clip as TNT made it three in a row and caught up with Alaska Milk, Globalport, Rain or Shine and San Miguel Beer at 3-1.
The Hotshots stayed right behind the Texters for as long as they could, but eventually fell down under the weight of Castro’s superb game in the end.
They moved down to seventh place with a 2-3 slate.
Castro himself delivered the lethal plays in the contest that drew a good weekend crowd.
With Talk n Text holding a precarious 83-82 lead, Castro knocked in a three-pointer then took a steal that he himself parlayed into a basket.
Rookie Moala Tautuaa helped the team finish off the Hotshots as he also took a steal off Ian Sangalang then broke away with a thunderous jam.
Though they trailed practically all the way, the Hotshots kept the game close with big games from Marc Pingris and Melton.
Pingris had had double-double numbers with five minutes left to play while Melton had gone 5-of-5 from the arc in the first three quarters.
The Hotshots had their final hurrah as James Yap scored on a pirouette off Ryan Reyes then Pingris knocked in two charities off an offensive rebound to cut their deficit at 86-90 with 15 seconds to go.
The Texters, however, held on to win the match.
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
