TNT completes comeback with 1-point win in Game 7

If this wasn't the best semifinal best-of seven series in PBA history, then it certainly ranks right up there.

In a series where the largest winning margin of any game was a mere four points, it seemed appropriate that Game 7 between defending champion Talk 'N Text and archrival Petron Blaze would come down to the last possession with one team protecting a one-point lead.

When the smoke had cleared, the Tropang Texters emerged victorious, holding off the Blaze Boosters, 92-91, to complete their historic comeback from a 1-3 series deficit. It was the kind of ending you'd expect from a series where the winning margins over the first six games were 4, 2, 2, 3, 2, and 3 points.

"We won this series at the end of Game 4 when we told ourselves we're still in the series," winning coach Chot Reyes said. "After going down 1-3, we had no drama, no histrionics in the dugout. We just looked each other in the eye and told ourselves we still had a chance."

Fittingly, this seventh game had the smallest winning margin, although the Blaze Boosters had a chance to win by two on their last offensive thrust, and before that, the Tropa had several chances to close out the game.

Trailing by six at the half, TNT capitalized on the absence of Petron main man Arwind Santos, who picked up his fourth foul early in the third period and had to be benched for the rest of the quarter. Without the versatile shot-blocker and rebounder on the floor, the Tropang Texters frolicked on offense, with Santos' man Ranidel De Ocampo pumping in eight points in a 12-0 run that turned a 56-64 deficit into a 68-64 TNT lead. Jayson Castro joined the fray, completing a three-point play and hitting a triple to help his team grab an 81-73 lead entering the fourth period.

Santos reentered the game at the start of the fourth, and almost immediately impacted play. He came up with two huge blocks on De Ocampo and Ali Peek which seemed to energize the Blaze Boosters, who went on a 12-2 run that was capped by Santos' short jumper that gave Petron back the lead, 85-83, with 6:28 left. But Castro again came up with a big three that sparked a 9-2 TNT blast, giving the Tropa a 92-87 edge entering the last two minutes. No one could know it then, but TNT would not score again the rest of the way.

Chris Lutz, who was phenomenal for most of this series, hit two free throws that cut the lead to three with 1:48 left. He added two more with only 48.9 seconds to go that made it 92-91 as the huge crowd braced for a tight finish. The Blaze Boosters came up with a big defensive stop on the next play, forcing Jimmy Alapag to shoot a long triple that missed badly and setting themselves up for the go-ahead basket with only 25.8 seconds left.

The Blaze Boosters worked the ball over to Alex Cabagnot, who made a move down the lane and was quickly greeted by Ali Peek. Cabagnot swung the ball over to an open Danny Ildefonso, who took a three-point shot that was a little off to the left.

No one could secure the ball, and with 5.5 seconds left a jump ball was called between Santos and Ryan Reyes, who was playing on borrowed time with a wrist injury. But Reyes summoned all his strength and outfought Santos, an incredible leaper, to tap the ball to fellow walking wounded Kelly Williams, who had the presence of mind to call a timeout before he could be fouled. Time was down to only 3.7 seconds.

Petron still wasn't in penalty, so they quickly fouled Larry Fonacier with only 2.9 seconds left. TNT gave Petron some life by turning the ball over with only 1.2 seconds left. The problem was, the Blaze Boosters were out of timeouts, and could do no better than a Cabagnot heave from beyond halfcourt that wasn't even close.

It's been suggested that perhaps Petron should have called a timeout even if they didn't have one. A technical foul would have been called and TNT would have been awarded a free throw. Worst case, it would have been a two-point lead, but at least the Blaze Boosters could have inbounded from halfcourt and taken a higher-percentage shot.

In any case, they didn't, and Talk 'N Text escaped with a one-point win. "In the end, breaks decided it," said Reyes. "We had open shots that we missed, and they had open shots that they missed."

Indeed, the law of averages finally caught up with Petron. After De Ocampo missed open three-point attempts that could have swung Games 3 and 4 TNT's way, the Blaze Boosters ran out of tricks in the end game of Game 5, when Alapag hit a big three and Santos missed a potential series-clinching triple, and Game 6, when Cabagnot missed three wide-open shots in the last two minutes that helped TNT seal a three-point win.

Cabagnot, the team's second-leading scorer in the elimination rounds, had a particularly miserable series, shooting a paltry 34% from the field, including only 6-for-31 from three-point distance. In Game 7, he missed all his five three-point attempts and finished with only eight points.

For Reyes, now was the time to beat their rivals, who were missing the services of several key players but still came within a whisker of making it to the finals. "When Jay Washington comes back, when Dondon Hontiveros comes back and when Rabeh Al-Hussaini also returns, that team is unbeatable," Reyes noted.

For now, though, the Tropang Texters are back in the finals, where the will face Powerade, whose only two championships came with Reyes at the helm. "Powerade has a special place in my heart. A lot of people were saying that it's gonna be easy for Rain or Shine, that it will be easy for B-Meg. Look what happened. Powerade is a tough, tough, tough, tough team. It's gonna take our best to compete with them."

E-mail: sid_ventura@yahoo.com.