Texters recharge, trim lead

Talk n Text fought back from back-to-back setbacks with a lopsided 92-73 victory over a stunned Alaska Milk side as the Tropang Texters used a pesky defense to stop the Aces and get back into the thick of things in Game Three of the KFC PBA Philippine Cup finals at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

Facing the specter of falling into a 0-3 deficit no team has overcome, the Tropang Texters came out with their guns blazing and torched the Aces, thus reducing Alaska’s lead in the best-of-seven series at 2-1.

After playing three games in five days, the title protagonists take a welcome break in the next two days before resuming their battle in Game Four Wednesday in the same venue.

“Going into Game Three, all we wanted was to get one,” said Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes, relieved after his wards succeeded in stopping the Aces’ charge.

“Finally, we hit our shots. Jimmy Alapag and Macmac Cardona had seven combined three-pointers in the first two games. Now they had seven just in the first three quarters,” Reyes added. “More critical was our defense. We contained LA Tenorio and we contained the whole Alaska team. It’s the first time we held an opponent below 100 points in the (current Philippine Cup) playoffs.”

“We had our butts kicked tonight. Playing a third game in five days, it was just so hard for us to find energy to match theirs. They played like their back against the wall and we couldn’t match the energy they had,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone.

“We faced a team tonight that we thought we had faced in Games One and Two. The problem now is this could be the same team we will face in Game Four. They gained so much confidence in tonight’s game,” Cone added.

The Tropang Texters took control early while coming out with a small but quick starting unit of Jimmy Alapag, Mark Cardona, Jason Castro, Jared Dillinger and Ali Peek.

Cardona, Alapag and Dillinger produced big numbers and Harvey Carey came off the bench to fire 11 points as the Texters dominated the contest, building leads of as many as 30 points, 75-45, before eventually dealing the Aces their worst defeat in the finals since a 79-106 blowout by Gordon’s Gin in Game Six of the 1997 Commissioner’s Cup.

Cardona checked a personal slump, knocking down four of eight three-pointers and totaling a game-high 23 points that went with four rebounds and two steals.

Alapag banged away 19 three triples and a total of 19, Dillinger tossed in 15 while Carey snared 14 rebounds and fired 11 points.

For Alaska, LA Tenorio was a big flop after leading everybody in scoring with an average of 22 points in the first two games.

He finished with a fat egg, going 0-of-2 from the three-point zone and 0-of-3 from the two-point area.

“He was very fatigued in practice (Saturday). I was trying to limit his minutes tonight. When they got the lead, I felt it was useless to extend him and push him. We’re better off preparing him for Game Four,” said Cone.