TALK ‘N TEXT ENDS ELIMS ON WINNING NOTE
In dire need of a victory to fan its hopes of making it to the 2015 PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs, Talk ‘N Text almost blew a 28-point advantage but stayed the course to come out with a 94-85 victory over Kia Friday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Going up by as much as 28, 51-23 in the first half, the Carnival made a spirited run to slice the deficit to just four, 69-65 late in the third.
The Tropang Texters then used a 16-4 run to start the fourth quarter to break away to an 86-69 lead but the pesky Kia squad kept on coming back behind Karl Dehesa, Jet Chang, and Hyram Bagatsing, cutting the lead down to seven, 92-85 with less than two minutes left to play. Unfortunately, time ran out on Kia as Talk ‘N Text avoided a big meltdown to end its elimination campaign.
“Wait and see na ngayon on what will happen. That’s all we can do right now,” said head coach Jong Uichico. “We’d like to be as positive as we can. Doable naman yung mga scenario, but wala na sa amin yun.”
Jayson Castro led Talk ‘N Text with 19 points, while Kelly Williams and Ranidel de Ocampo both chipped in 14 markers apiece. Steffphon Pettigrew had 11 points and eight boards, while Sam Dahgles also added 10 in the win.
Talk ‘N Text took hold of eighth spot in the standings with a 5-6 slate while the loss sent Kia to a tie with idle Barangay Ginebra as with their identical 4-6 slates.
Dehesa led the Carnival with 19 points on a 4-of-8 shooting from threes, while Chang finished with 17 markers and seven boards. (RL)
The scores:
TALK ‘N TEXT 94 – Castro 19, Williams 14, De Ocampo 14, Daghles 11, Pettigrew 11, Fonacier 7, Ganuelas-Rosser 7, Washington 5, Aban 3, Seigle 2, Reyes 1, Carey 0.
KIA 85 – Dehesa 19, Chang 17, N’Diaye 9, Deutchman 8, Webb 8, Revilla 5, Bagatsing 5, Yee 4, Cawaling 3, Buensuceso 3, Nuyles 2, Alvarez 2, Avenido 0.
Quarterscores: 32-17, 57-38, 70-65, 94-85.
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