TALK N TEXT CLOSES ELIMS WITH ROUT OF LEADERS
Talk n Text was so admirable in this no-bearing contest.
The Tropang Texters pushed themselves hard in this match that they could afford to lose, defending, running and gunning in a 103-79 rout of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings at the close of the PLDT myDSL PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.
The Texters worked with their butts out the entire length of the game, pulling away early and sustaining a complete domination of the Kings as they braced for their best-of-three quarterfinals showdown with the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers starting Tuesday over at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“We lost three games in a row and it’s a game where we wanted to gain some confidence and get momentum going into the quarters,” said Talk n Text coach Norman Black, himself on his toes all night.
“It’s a good game that we hope can help us. It’s gonna be a tough quarters for us. It’s a handful for us to handle,” Black said, looking forward to their quarters matchup with the Mixers.
“I hope to have Ryan Reyes, Kelly Williams and Noy Baclao back. It’s gonna help having them back. It’s gonna be a tough matchup,” Black pointed out.
Determined to get back on track ahead of the playoffs, the Texters pounced on what looked well like a half-hearted stand by the Ginebra.
It was an all-Talk n Text show except for a brief nip-and-tuck affair at the start.
Jimmy Alapag fired away five three-point bombs to highlight Talk n Text’s second-quarter breakaway giving them a 62-39 bulge at the half.
The Texters hardly slowed down in the second half, thus, leading by as many as 27 before completing the Sunday massacre.
Danny Seigle topscored with 20 points while Ranidel de Ocampo contributed 19 markers and nine boards and Alapag added 17 points all made in the first half.
Greg Slaughter and Mark Caguioa paced the Kings with 15 and 11, respectively. Japeth Aguilar chipped in six, after going silent the whole first 30 minutes of the game.
Ginebra sealed its claim of playoffs top seeding after nailing victory No. 11 at the expense of GlobalPort Friday.
The Kings and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters wound up with identical 11-3 win-loss cards but Ginebra gained the elims top pennant on the winner-over-the-other rule. (SB)
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