Petron blasts TnT, gains Top 4 bonus

Games tomorrow (Philsports Arena)

5:15 p.m. – Air21 vs Talk n Text

7:30 p.m. – Alaska vs Petron

MANILA, Philippines - Petron Blaze sustained its hot run, rampaging past Talk n Text, 122-88, to assure itself of a Top Four finish in the PBA Governors Cup eliminations at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Ramming past Barako Bull, 112-87, the last time out, the Boosters roared even mightier versus the Tropang Texters and secured a twice-to-beat edge in the quarterfinals with two games left in the elims.

The Boosters pulled away from the field with a 6-1 win-loss card while the Texters dropped to eighth at 2-4.

“It was a big game and it gave us the additional chance to realize our goal of making the semifinals,” said Petron coach Gie Abanilla. “We want to stay grounded, continue to learn and we’ll be okay.”

 Earlier, Globalport came back strong from its bittter loss to Barako Bull Sunday, making its own final-half turnaround to beat Meralco, 91-79, and wheel back into contention for the quarterfinals.

Blowing away an 18-point lead in their loss to the Energy Cola, the Batang Pier this time overcame a 20-point deficit to snap a three-game losing skein and climb back to the Top Eight at 3-4.

Sol Mercado, who had a crucial lapse at endgame against Barako Bull, redeemed himself by firing away killer bombs at the finish to stop the Bolts’ three-game streak.

Meralco dropped to a heavy four-way jam at second place with Barako Bull, Rain or Shine and San Mig Coffee at 4-3.

“I commend Sol for being brave enough to talk to the team yesterday (Tuesday). He owned up his shortcoming and promised to do better the next time. This is that time,” said Globalport coach Junel Baculi.

The Batang Pier had a chance to salvage the game versus the Energy Cola but had a mental lapse, nobody suing for their last timeout after Markeith Cummings grabbed the defensive rebound with six seconds left to play, enabling Barako to escape with a 98-97 nail-biter.

“We used the Sunday loss as a motivation. We have nothing to blame but ourselves. We rose as a team,” said Baculi as they got back on track, already matching the three wins the young franchise notched in the season’s first two conferences.

“We have to learn and hopefully become gatecrashers in the quarterfinals,” Baculi also said.

Things became a lot easier for the Batang Pier as Meralco import Mario West drew his fifth foul with over 13 minutes left to play. He eventually fouled out inside the last two minutes.

Cummings kept on attacking the foul-troubled West as he, together with Gary David, spearheaded Globalport’s decisive comeback from 44-28 down at the half.

The Batang Pier eventually surged ahead at 65-63 on a basket by rookie center Yousef Taha at the start of the fourth and refused to slow down, pulling away at the finish.

Cummings wound up with 32 points, 12 rebounds and six assists while David ended up with 21 markers and four boards.

Mercado scored 15 points all in the second half.

Making just five in the first half, David sizzled with three triples and a total of 14 points in the third quarter.