Talk 'N Text on the threshold of PBA history

For the third consecutive game, Talk ‘N Text showed Rain or Shine what championship poise is all about.

And on Sunday night, it was Jimmy Alapag’s turn to deliver the killer blows down the stretch.

The 5-foot-9 playmaker came up big anew by pumping in eight of his 15 points in the crunch, highlighted by two big triples, as the Tropang Texters moved on the verge of a third straight PBA Philippine Cup title with an 89-80 Game 3 victory over the Elasto Painters in front of a mammoth Smart Araneta Coliseum crowd.

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Jayson Castro sustained his brilliance anew with a game-high 19 points, but it was the clutch exploits of his backcourt buddy Alapag that enabled Talk ‘N Text to take a commanding three-to-nothing lead in the best-of-seven series.

The Texters can wrap up the series–and seize the perpetual Jun Bernardino trophy–with another win in Game 4 on Wednesday also at the Big Dome, and coach Norman Black doesn’t want to give the embattled Painters crew any chance.

“We’ll go for the championship on Wednesday,” he boldly assured. “We put ourselves in a good position to get the championship and we'll try to get the win on Wednesday.”

Fresh from a 24-point, nine-rebound performance in their 89-81 victory in Game 2 last Friday, sweet-shooting power forward Ranidel De Ocampo tallied 13 points while Ryan Reyes and Kelly Williams tallied 11 markers apiece for the indefatigable Texters, who uncorked a decisive 13-4 wind-up, underscoring their end-game poise under duress anew.

That, however, can’t be said of the Painters, who put themselves in a winning position anew but ran out of steam, leaving them demoralized and staring at an insurmountable series deficit.

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Rookie Chris Tiu emerged as the biggest force for the Painters, tallying 12 of his 14 points in the second half, but ace gunners Paul Lee and Jeff Chan struggled with a combined 10 points– and only one in the fourth canto.

Before an electric crowd of 16, 028 paying fans, the Painters showed up locked-in and stayed hot on the heels of the Texters’ in the first half, trailing by just 39-42 at the break.

After Alapag made four straight free throws, Tiu fueled the Painters’ 13-3 counterattack for a 54-49 lead. Then Ryan Arana took the cudgels from Tiu and clustered eight markers to give RoS a 65-61 cushion into the fourth.

As the Texters’ guns momentarily turned cold, the Painters poured it on, with a Beau Belga triple giving them a 70-61 cushion–their biggest in the series so far–with close to 11 minutes to go in the payoff period.

Talk ‘N Text, however, quickly clawed back with seven unanswered points to move within 68-70, before Rain or Shine enjoyed a 76-73 buffer courtesy of Tiu’s off-balanced shot, time down to just 6:06.

Then–just like in the previous two games–the Texters still had enough batteries for a blinding finish.

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After a De Ocampo trey forged a 76-all count, Alapag converted momentum-shifting back-to-back triples–the first, over two RoS defenders and the second, off a Castro feed at the right corner–for an 86-76 lead with 3:12 to go.

Jervy Cruz’s completed three-point play snapped the RoS’ nearly four-minute drought, but Reyes canned two more free throws off a Lee foul, making it 84-79 with 2:16 remaining.

Making matters worse for the Painters, Norwood had his kickout pass tipped by Alapag to teammate Harvey Carey. In the ensuing play, Castro made the RoS pay dearly with a back-breaking pull-up triple for a considerable 87-79 lead with 1:46 left.

A Lee split failed to overshadow the Painters’ sloppy plays in the crunch before Alapag put the icing on the cake with an off-balanced shot, pegging the final tally.

“We really struggled offensively today but we played good defense on the stretch. Alapag hit some crucial three pointers in the end for us and that’s really was the difference in the game. Our three-point shooting bailed us out again,” stressed Black.