TALK N TEXT DOWNS MERALCO BEHIND BIG WINDUP
After two blowout wins, Talk n Text needed a strong finishing kick to sustain its romp with an 80-72 decision over Meralco in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome Tuesday night.
Harvey Carey joined forces with Gilas mainstays Ranidel de Ocampo, Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro and former Gilas cadet player Matt Ganuelas in an endgame flurry giving the Tropang Texters solo fourth place with a 4-2 win-loss card.
Talk n Text made a decisive move from a 69-68 count and inched closer to leader Alaska (5-0) and joint second placers San Miguel Beer (4-1) and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (4-1).
The Bolts, on the other hand, dropped to fifth place with the GlobalPort Batang Pier and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at 3-2.
“At endgame, we played both ends of the floor the way we wanted to,” said Talk n Text coach Jong Uichico after notching their third straight win following 23-point blastings of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the Kia Sorento.
The Texters were sluggish at the start, allowing the Bolts to engage them in a battle with Meralco paced by Gary David.
It helped that Talk n Text put the cuffs on David in the final canto, holding him scoreless after scattering 17 points in the first three quarters of play.
David banged away back-to-back long toms that gave them a 55-53 lead at the end of the third.
And the Bolts were very much in the battle, 68-69, before they were outhustled and outplayed by the Texters in the last five minutes of the game.
Carey and Ganuelas were all over the floor at endgame, huge producing hustle plays.
On back-to-back instances, Ganuelas grabbed a loose ball, setting himself then De Ocampo for crucial baskets that made it 76-68 with time down to 2:10 left.
Meralco failed to recover from that deficit.
Carey and Ganuelas made only seven points each but shone bright on their 24 combined rebounds.
Ryan Reyes topscored with 17 markers while De Ocampo and Castro added 15 and 12, respectively. Alapag, back in the TnT core rotation, contributed seven points and two assists.
After four straight free-throw misses, De Ocampo converted his lone three-pointer that all but sealed their victory. (SB)
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