Explosive TnT stops the 'Rain'

MANILA, Philippines - Reigning titlist Talk n Text put up a solid game together on both ends to stop Rain or Shine’s unbeaten run in the 2011-12 PBA Philippine Cup, carving out a 107-98 win in their keenly awaited match at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Harvey Carey and Jason Castro churned out double-double numbers and Ryan Reyes, Larry Fonacier and Jared Dillinger had huge contributions as the Texters showed up Paul Lee and his RoS teammates even minus TnT major stars Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams and Ranidel de Ocampo.

Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes, however, said it wasn’t easy as the final score suggested.

“We’re basically limping along. We’re getting tired and had to gut it out in the end. We just managed to scrape out,” said Reyes.

“We’re at two-zero now and we’re happy with the effort. But for sure, we’ve to improve and play better in taking on the league’s better teams,” Reyes added.

The veteran TnT mentor said credit in this game belonged to his players, making special mention of Harvey Carey who came through with huge double-double stats of 28 points and 14 rebounds.

“We’re fortunate enough to get a great scoring night from Carey. We had no set plays for him but he got that big output. That’s the big difference in this game,” said Reyes of Carey.

The energetic Fil-Am forward went 10-of-18 from the field, including a rare three-pointer, in putting in his biggest output in the last five years.

It was actually his second highest, next to his career best of 30 made in 2006.

Castro delivered 18 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and three steals as he more than held his own against Lee.

Still, Reyes took his hats off to the celebrated RoS rookie.

“We had a special plan for him. We wanted to make sure his man pay extra attention to him. Then we had extra help. Still, he made 17. He’s really special,” said Reyes of Lee.

Beau Belga added 16 points while Gabe Norwood tossed in 12 points for the Elsato Paintsers, who trailed by one in the first quarter then seized control at the turn.