TNT NAILS BACK-TO-BACK BLOWOUT WINS
Hitting its stride in the final half, Talk n Text broke free from a tight game en route to an 85-62 win over Kia in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday night.
The Tropang Texters pulled off another lopsided victory in a follow-up to their 99-76 shellacking of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Sunday as they blasted the Sorento, 46-27, in the last two quarters.
“We struggled a bit on offense at the start as they did a pretty good job defending us. We tried to make adjustments in the second half at maayos ang kinalabasan,” said Talk n Text coach Jong Uichico.
“We found a good rhythm in the second half,” added Uichico after nailing their first back-to-back wins and their third in five games in all in the all-Filipino tourney.
Talk n Text and Rain or Shine, winner over Barako Bull earlier in the night, moved half-game up on NLEX (2-2) and Globalport (2-2).
As the Texters established a commanding spread in the second half, Uichico finally broke in returning star playmaker Jimmy Alapag who logged two points, one rebound and one assist in seven minutes of action.
Kelly Williams, Jayson Castro, Larry Fonacier, Ryan Reyes and Matt Ganuelas carried the load as the Texters seized control in the third quarter, opening double-digit spreads after leading by just four, 39-35, at the half.
The Texters sat on a 59-44 cushion at the end of the third and pushed harder to lead by as many as 26 before completing the expected rout.
The Sorento engaged the Texters in a nip-and-tuck duel in the first two quarters, fighting the former Philippine Cup three-peat winners to four deadlocks and seven lead changes.
But no way the Sorento could match up as the Texters finally got into the groove in the final half.
Williams, Castro, Fonacier and Elmer Espiritu delivered double-digit outputs while Harvey Carey snared 16 rebounds although he didn’t score a single point.
Williams came away with a double-double game with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Rookies Kevin Alas and Ganuelas were limited to 11 points together after leading the team to their big win over Rain or Shine.
Karl Dehesa and Rudy Lingganay paced Kia with 14 and 11, respectively. (SB)
The scores:
Talk N Text 85 — Williams 13, Fonacir 12, Castro 11, Espiritu 10, Washington 8, Seigle 8, Reyes 6, Rosser 6, Alas 5, Alapag 2, De Ocampo 2, Aban 2, Carey 0, Reyes 0.
Kia 62 — Dehesa 14, Lingganay 11, Cervantes 8, Webb 7, Buensuceso 6, Revilla 4, Pascual 4, Jaime 3, Raymundo 3, Thiele 2, Alonzo 0, Saldua 0, Padilla 0, Alvarez 0.
Quarters: 17-14; 39-35; 59-44; 85-62
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