Phone Pals reload, tame raging Red Bulls

DUMAGUETE — Facing the prospect of plunging all the way to the cellar, Talk n Text played with great resolve and went on to whip Red Bull, 99-93, in their road game in the Gran Matador Brandy PBA Philippine Cup at the Lamberto Macias Sports Center here last night.

Vic Pablo provided a big help while returning from a three-game layoff due to an injury as Talk n Text smothered Red Bull to jump three rungs up to fifth place with a 3-4 win-loss card.

Before the game, the Phone Pals, who had lost two of their last three games, were only half-game in front of tail-ender Sta. Lucia Realty.

The Pals survived the Barakos despite losing ace point guard Jimmy Alapag in the last six minutes of play due to leg cramps.

Asi Taulava, Willie Miller, Harvey Carey and rookie Macmac Cardona delivered at crunch time as the Pals dealt the Barakos a third straight loss and their fifth in eight games in all.

The Barakos, the Fiesta Cup champions on a slide in the all-Filipino tourney, fell to joint sixth with the Alaska Milk Aces and the Air21 Express.

Clutch baskets by Taulava, Miller and Cardona fuelled a decisive run that saw the Phone Pals pulling away from a precarious 82-80 lead halfway through the payoff period.

Cardona, one of five Phone Pals who finished in double figures, canned in two charities to cap a 12-5 exchange that gave Talk n Text a 94-85 margin entering the last two minutes of play.

The Pals hung tough in the face of the Barakos’ desperate charge at the finish to complete their second road win in the tourney, following their 88-66 rout of the Purefoods Chunkee Giants in Hong Kong last March 19.

After fighting the Barakos through five deadlocks and eight lead changes in the first half, the Pals dominated the second, carrying over a five-point cushion, 74-69, into the final quarter.

Three straight defensive gems which the Barakos turned to a 6-0 closing run gave the team a 26-21 margin in the first quarter.

Talk n Text, however, had its own run to close the next period as the Pals moved upfront, 49-47, at halftime.

Pablo fired seven points in the opening quarter while Asi Taulava rifled in nine in the second period, leading the Talk n Text charge in the first half. Mick Pennisi sparkled with three triples for Red Bull in the first 24 minutes of play.