Tropang Texters hold off Painters

MANILA, Philippines - Shawn Daniels manned the boards and the Talk n Text locals provided the firepower as they held off the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 99-96, in the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference at the Cuneta Astrodome last night.

Ranidel de Ocampo, Jimmy Alapag, Jason Castro and Macmac Cardona made at least 14 points each as the Tropang Texters broke into the win-column after losing to the Barangay Ginebra Kings on opening day.

The Elasto Painters had a chance to force overtime but Gabe Norwood missed an off-balanced three-point shot in the closing seconds.

Meanwhile, San Miguel Beer and Coca-Cola both go for a second straight win as they collide in the first offering of the Phoenix Fuel PBA on Tour series in Gingoog, Misamis Oriental today.

“I’m very, very disappointed. It’s nice to win but we have to be able to close out the game when we have the chance. We’re just lucky Gabe missed that shot,” said Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes.

“It’s very disappointing. They (the Elasto Painters) kept on finding ways to get back. We just couldn’t close out the game,” Reyes also said.

The Texters appeared to have won the contest with a 97-90 lead in the last two minutes when the Painters waged a last-ditch attempt to salvage the game.

Jai Lewis scored a charity, JayR Reyes converted a twinner then Norwood banged away a three-pointer as Rain or Shine got back into fight at 96-98 with 6.8 ticks to go.

A split from the stripe by Castro a second later kept the possibility of overtime for Rain or Shine.

In the end, Talk n Text leaned on a good defensive effort to scuttle Rain or Shine’s bid.

De Ocampo redeemed himself from early exit on their last two games on flagrant fouls with a 20-point game he also laced with five rebounds.

The former St. Francis of Assisi stalwart went 7 of 8 from the field, scattering 15 points in the second half.

“We talked to Ranidel. I told him I’ll be the only one who will take him out of the court, not the referees,” said Reyes.

“The last time when he sat for three minutes, we lost a 12-0 run. When he came back, we’re already down by three. We kept reminding him about it,” Reyes added.

De Ocampo himself committed a flagrant foul that triggered Talk n Text’s walkout in their quarterfinals series with Ginebra in the last conference.

Alapag added 19 points, Castro chipped in 15 while Cardona contributed 14.

Daniels was good for only 13 points but he had a sterling effort defending Jai Lewis and hauling down 10 rebounds.

Rain or Shine dragged Talk n Text in a close game with Reyes and Lewis churning out double-double games. Reyes came through with 23 points and 13 rebounds while Lewis had 17 points and 20 rebounds.

Down by three, 46-49, at halftime, the Elasto Painters started with an 11-to-nothing run in the final half to race ahead at 57-49.