Vets step up as Beermen tie PBA title series at 2-2

Old warriors Olsen Racela and Danny Ildefonso turned back the hands of time Sunday at the Big Dome, joining forces in the fourth quarter and helping San Miguel survive a furious Talk `N Text rally for a nail-biting 91-87 win in Game Four of the PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven finals series. It enabled the Beermen to level the series at two games apiece and gain the momentum going into the pivotal fifth game at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday. Ildefonso scored seven of his 17 points in the last quarter, while Racela nailed four straight points from the foul line inside the last 52 seconds, including the final two that clinched the win for the Beermen before a crowd of 11,978. “Si Olsen ang nagbibigay-buhay sa amin," said Ildefonso, referring to their 40-year-old team captain who is playing in his final conference. Racela’s pre-game speech prior to Game Three fired up the Beermen, who whipped the Tropang Texters, 103-82. In Game Four, the Beermen played with the same fire provided by pesky guard Paul Artadi. Inserted by coach Ato Agustin as the starting quarterback in lieu of Alex Cabagnot, the speedy guard from University of the East scored a basket and then got under the skin of Ryan Reyes, with whom he had a heated verbal tussle early in the match that prompted coach Chot Reyes to recall his returning point guard to the bench. San Miguel had its first sizeable lead, 22-14, as Cabagnot buried a three-pointer with a minute to go in the opening quarter. The Beermen posted their biggest lead in the first half, 42-25, on a Denok Miranda putback off an Arwind Santos miss with still two minutes left in the second quarter. But the Tropang Texters scored the last six points of the period to cut the deficit, 42-31. Behind 4-of-8 shooting from the floor, Jay Washington, adjudged as the Best Player of the Conference, already had 11 in the first half. Ildefonso, the two-time league Most Valuable Player, came up big in the final period at the height of Talk `N Text’s ferocious comeback from 17 points down. Larry Fonacier split his charities to tie the game at 85-all with 1:14 to go, but the Texters couldn’t complete their rally as the Beermen showed poise under pressure. Alex Cabagnot hit a tough jumper with 57.7 seconds left to give the Beermen the lead for good, 87-85. And after Arwind Santos broke a pick-and-roll play by De Ocampo and Jimmy Alapag, Racela made it a four-point game on two free throws. The Tropang Texters threatened at 87-89 on a Harvey Carey putback off a miss by Jason Castro, but Racela missed a three-point shot at the other end, leaving the Texters with 14.3 seconds to map out a game-tying plan. But Ildefonso completed his game-long brilliance. He forced Ranidel de Ocampo to botch a turn-around jumper in the Texters’ final play wiith five seconds remaining. Dondon Hontiveros tapped the loose ball following the miss, which Racela promptly recovered. Talk `N Text then fouled the veteran guard with seven-tenths of a second left, and the former Ateneo stalwart responded by sinking both free throws to seal the Tropang Texters’ doom. “They’re great players and they’re great people," said Jay Washington of his two veteran teammates. “They helped us out down the stretch. This (game) is for them. We just have to keep on fighting, and hopefully take Game Five and then the championship." Washington topscored for the Beermen with 25 points, while Santos added 18, but committed five turnovers, two coming down the stretch on passing errors. “It’s obvious in the last two games that they’ve gotten our number," admitted Tropang Texters coach Chot Reyes. “They’ve found an antidote. We have to find ways to score against their defense." - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV