Texters on a roll, climb to second

MANILA, Philippines - There’s suddenly no stopping Talk n Text. Not even Commissioner’s Cup finals tormentor B-Meg.

The Tropang Texters continued on the roll, upstaging the Llamados, 89-72, to gain a piece of second place after their penultimate game in the PBA Governors Cup elimination round at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Talk n Text beat B-Meg in a low-scoring battle, making it four in a row to catch up with the Llamados on their identical 5-3 win-loss cards.

“Four other teams can still make 5-3. We’re still at the mercy of quotient that’s why we’re pushing it till the end,” said Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes.

“As much as we’d like to relax and celebrate, we can’t. We have to make sure we have to be ready for Rain or Shine Sunday. That’s a team playing best basketball to date,” Reyes also said.

Larry Fonacier, Jason Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo, Paul Harris and Kelly Williams put in double-digit outputs while Ryan Reyes and Aaron Aban made their presence felt with their tough defense on James Yap whom they held to nine points.

“Aban’s and Reyes’ defense on James was a big key. We’re able to take away a big part of their offense,” said Reyes.

Meanwhile, for Alaska Milk, misery loves company.

The Aces fought hard in their farewell game in the season, taking the Air21 Express along to an early holiday in the PBA Governors Cup with a 110-80 blowout win at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Cyrus Baguio, LA Tenorio and Brandon Cablay combined for an impressive 8-of-11 three-pointers and the entire Alaska team torched Air21 with a 52.6-percent field shooting, pulling off its most lopsided victory since a 102-72 rout of Ginebra on Oct. 19, 2005.

Alaska dashed whatever hopes Air21 had, dealing the Express their sixth defeat against two wins.

The victory, however, hardly made a difference in Alaska’s worst season ever since joining the league in 1986.

The Aces ended up with a 2-7 win-loss card.

 in the tourney and an overall 11-24 (.314) record in the season – the Uytengsu franchise’s worst ever in terms of percentage and total number of won games.

Though taking the rein in the team just two weeks before the Governors Cup, youthful coach Luigi Trillo took responsibility on their poor showing.

“It’s really me, not the players. Everything I wanted to do, they took to heart. It’s my responsibility as a coach to find ways to motivate the team,” said Trillo.

The former La Salle player considered their struggling performance as “growing pain that’s something to build on” but he admitted he’s not sure with his status in the future.

“Our boss (Wilfred Steven Uytengsu) just brought me in an interim capacity. He’s going to talk to us now. We’ll talk things over,” said Trillo.

Before this campaign, Alaska’s worst was a 20-29 (.408) showing in its first year in the league in 1986. The least number of wins the team got in a season was 17 (against 21 losses) in 1993.

Jason Forte, Baguio and Tenorio scored at least 19 points each and the whole team put up a good defensive job, holding Zach Graham down to 25 points.

Graham is the tournament’s scoring leader, averaging 39 points an outing. He came off a 51-point explosion versus the Powerade Tigers Friday.

“We took them away from their strength which is Graham,” said Trillo.

Graham had piled up seven straight games with at least 31 points – the first player to the feat since Derrick Brown in the 2004 Fiesta Conference.

The Aces got off to a jackrabbit start and dominated throughout, leading by as many as 37 at 93-56 on a three-pointer by Cablay at the outset of the fourth quarter.

In an overpowering performance after six straight losses, Alaska took the opening quarter at 32-15 and the half at 56-32.

The scores:

First Game

Alaska 110 – Forte 26, Baguio 24, Tenorio 19, Thoss 10, Cablay 9, Espinas 8, Baracael 4, Dela Cruz 4, Jazul 3, Eman 3, Thiele 0, Bugia 0, Gelig 0.

Air21 80 – Graham 25, Ritualo 11, Arboleda 9, Escobal 7, Faundo 6, Isip 6, Omolon 6, Sison 4, Menor 4, Espiritu 2, Bagatsing 0, Sena 0, Hubalde 0.

Quarterscores: 32-15, 56-32, 90-56, 110-80

Second Game

Talk n text 89 – Fonacier 16, Castro 15, De Ocampo 15, Harris 14, Williams 11, Alapag 9, Aguilar 4, Reyes 3, Aban 2, Gamalinda 0, Peek 0.

B-Meg 72 – Blakely 19, Urbiztondo 14, Yap 9, Reavis 8, De Ocampo 6, Barroca 4, Intal 4, Villanueva 4, Pingris 4, Simon 0.

Quarterscores: 22-10, 41-27, 63-53, 89-72