NO STOPPING TALK N TEXT
The Talk n Text Tropang Texters are 48 minutes away from celebrating a feat done in the league three decades ago.
And a sweet sweep could be their cherry on the cake.
The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters put their toughest stand but the Texters still hung tough, hacking out an 89-80 victory that gave them a monstrous 3-0 lead in the PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven titular series Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Texters go for a historic all-Filipino three-peat via a sweep in Game Four Wednesday also at the Big Dome.
A crowd of over 16,000 stood as witness as the Texters fashioned out the stirring Game Three victory, giving them three cracks at duplicating the three straight all-Filipino championships the Crispa Redmanizers won in the early 80s.
Talk n Text coach Norman Black said they will try to make it sweeter by applying the broom on Rain or Shine in Game Four.
“We put ourselves in a position to score a sweep. And so we’ll definitely go for it Wednesday,” said Talk n Text coach Norman Black, now on the fringes of marking his PBA comeback with a championship.
For the record, no team has ever come back and win a title after falling behind 0-3 in a best-of-seven series.
To steal the crown, Rain or Shine must win four in a row against a team which has beaten them in all their previous six matches in an all-Filipino tourney.
“We’ll just try to delay their party or celebration,” said RoS coach Yeng Guiao, sounding to have conceded the crown to the Texters.
“Gagawa ng history? Ni hindi nga kami makaisa eh,” Guiao answered when asked if they would not try to make history.
Ranidel de Ocampo, Jimmy Alapag and Jason Castro hit clutch three-pointers to highlight a 16-4 closing run that carried the Texters to the great come-from-behind win and into the threshold of a fifth crown in the last four seasons.
The Texters, who fell behind by nine at 61-70 at the start of the fourth quarter, regained control at 82-76 entering the last three minutes on three straight triples by De Ocampo and Alapag.
Chris Tiu and Ryan Arana came through with key baskets as Rain or Shine established some rhythm and opened a five-point lead, 64-59, in the third quarter.
Scoring only two points each in the first half, Tiu and Arana rifled in eight apiece in the third period.
Harvey Carey stood his ground against Paul Lee’s drive then the Texters ran their own transition play with Jason Castro stopping atop the key and popping a jumper just before the buzzer sounded, giving the Texters a 42-39 lead at the turn.
It was the E-Painters’ best first-half performance in the series that saw them fight the Texters through five deadlocks and nine lead changes.
It was a battle marred by a flagrant foul penalty one committed by Arana and a technical infraction by Larry Rodriguez both against Kelly Williams.
JR Quinahan, TY Tang and Jeff Chan made three straight drive-in baskets as ROS led for the last time in the first half at 32-31.
Williams, Castro and Ryan Reyes answered with a 9-4 binge for TnT as the Texters raced ahead at 40-36.
A three-point play by Beau Belga followed by a defensive stop by RoS gave the E-Painters a chance to take the upper hand at the half.
But instead of playing the clock before taking the last shot, the Elasto Painters quickly attacked the basket with Lee missing on shot off Carey. Thus, the Texters gained last possession and Castro made a basket in the nick of time as TnT sat on the three-point cushion at the half. (SB)
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