Texters buck slow start, move a game away from clinching Philippine Cup

Talk 'N Text bucked a slow start and overcame an early 13-point deficit to hack out an emphatic 99-77 victory over San Miguel in Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven championship series before a crowd of 15,000 at the Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.

By winning the pivotal fifth game, the Tropang Texters moved within striking distance of clinching their second Philippine Cup crown in three seasons. They now lead the series, 3-2. Held to just 14 points in the first 12 minutes of play, the Tropang Texters went full throttle in the second period and outscored the Beermen, 38-17, to take a 52-44 halftime spread. Talk 'N Text's 14 points in the opening quarter was its lowest output in a period, but the 38 it scored in the second was its highest in the conference and only a point shy of matching the conference-best owned by Ginebra. The scoring binge was more than enough for the Tropang Texters to erase that 14-27 deficit, and take control of the match. The sudden offensive onslaught, fueled by Ranidel de Ocampo and Jimmy Alapag, was enough to silence the Beermen, who tried to get back in the game but kept getting thwarted by the Texters' hot shooting. De Ocampo poured in 20 points on 9-of-14 field goals, Castro added 17, and Alapag had 12 of his 16 points during that stretch when the Tropang Texters surged ahead for good. Talk 'N Text's win snapped its two-game losing skid after winning the first two games of the series. The Tropang Texters go for the kill on Friday's Game 6, but coach Chot Reyes isn't counting the Beermen out. "We've done only half of the job. Now we have to find a way to come out hard on Friday and play an even better job than today (Wednesday)," said Reyes, who is poised to win a sixth league championship and third for the telecommunication franchise. Reyes also guns for a historic feat — by becoming the only coach in league history to win at least two titles in three different teams. He has won two titles each with Purefoods (now Derby Ace) and Coca-Cola. On Wednesday, Reyes and his fully-loaded Tropang Texters' might were in full display, offensively and defensively. They showed they can play defense by holding the Beermen to just 35.8 shooting from the field, on 29-of-81 field goals. The Beermen were 7-of-20 when the Tropang Texters went on that blazing second-quarter run which saw them shoot 14-for-21 for an amazing 66.6 percent from the floor. Arwind Santos and Jay Washington each scored 18 points to lead the way for the Beermen, who failed to take control of the title series after back-to-back wins in Games 3 and 4 to get back from the 0-2 deficit. Larry Fonacier came off the bench and delivered the knockout blow on the Beermen. he drilled in three straight triples to give the Texters a whopping lead at 93-70. Wuth a thunderous slam, Jared Dillinger stretched the Tropang Texters' lead to 27 at 99-72, the biggest in the game with 2:35 left . The Beermen were limited to just 13 points in the final period. - KY, RCJ, JVP, GMANews.TV