Texters trump Aces, face E-Painters in finals
For the sixth time in the last seven conferences, Talk ‘N Text is back in familiar territory.
Flaunting poise when it mattered most, the Tropang Texters survived a frantic finish and booted out the gritty Alaska Aces Friday night, hacking out an 83-78 victory in Game 6 of their semis affair that sent them to the PBA Philippine Cup finals anew at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
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Veteran Jimmy Alapag took charge in the second half, collecting all of his 15 points–highlighted by three big triples–plus five assists, to lead three other teammates with at least 11 markers for Talk ‘N Text, which is gunning for a third straight All-Filipino crown.
The Tropang Texters, however, will have their hands full against a pumped-up Rain or Shine Elasto Painters crew, which finished off San Mig Coffee in the other semis pairing. The opener of their best-of-seven titular showdown is set this coming Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
TNT, fresh from an equally hard-earned 99-95 win in Game 5 last Dec. 30, also drew 16 points from cat-quick guard Jayson Castro while Jared Dillinger, Kelly Williams and Ranidel De Ocampo contributed 11 apiece.
“It’s a great win for us,” stated TNT coach Norman Black, who will also be making his 15th finals appearance and the first since steering the defunct Sta. Lucia Realtors to the Governors’ Cup crown in 2001.
“It’s good to be back in the championship, but it’s not just about me and the coaching staff. I have good players. They work hard in practice. Now, our goal is to try to win it,” he added.
Leading Best Player of the Conference candidate Calvin Abueva finished with another double-double performance of 23 points and 13 rebounds, but the do-it-all Alaska rookie was shackled in the second half with just six points.
Making matters worse for the Aces was athletic guard Cyrus Baguio, who went out cold with a mere three-point output on a horrendous 1-of-9 shooting from the field.
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After trading big blows in the first 36 minutes and just holding to a precarious 64-62 lead, the Tropang Texters finally made headway via a 9-5 run courtesy of De Ocampo’s lay-up off an Alapag feed for a 73-67 cushion.
With Alaska struggling to sustain its offense, TNT surged anew and padded its lead to a big 80-71 cushion, thanks to an Ali Peek jumper, with 4:08 to go.
The Aces finally got some semblance of fight as JVee Casio completed a big four-point play off an Alapag foul, cutting it to 75-80, time down to just 3:47.
Getting multiple chances to move closer, the Aces only had themselves to blame, committing critical turnovers while bungling numerous offensive tries.
Three made free throws by Alapag and De Ocampo sandwiched a Dondon Hontiveros to peg the final tally.
Before setting his sights on Rain or Shine, Black also took his hat off to the Aces, saying: “Some applause for Alaska. They’ve grown leaps and bounds this conference. They’re a tough nut to crack actually.”
Aware of the Elasto Painters’ physicality, the American coach expects nothing will come on a silver platter.
“RoS offers a completely different package as far as competition is concerned. They play very physical inside in offense and defense. We’re focused on RoS and how to beat them,” he stressed.
