TnT halts B Bull, stays unscathed

MANILA, Philippines - Jayson Castro and Larry Fonacier came off the bench and took charge at the finish as Talk n Text outlasted Barako Bull, 101-96, in a tough duel last night to keep its unbeaten run in the PLDT Home TVolution PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Castro scored six of his 25 points while Fonacier poured half of his 16-point output in the fourth quarter to anchor the Tropang Texters’ strong finishing kick for TnT’s fourth straight victory since losing their best-of-three quarterfinals matchup with San Mig Coffee in the recent Philippine Cup.

Richard Howell was again efficient throughout with KG Canaleta and Ranidel de Ocampo also providing a big lift as the Texters withstood Josh Dollard’s 33-point performance and handed the Energy Cola their third loss against a lone win.

Talk n Text coach Norman Black is more than elated to see his team on top in the short tourney.

“It feels good to get to a good start in the tourney. It’s a short conference and it’s really important to get ahead and not play catch up in the end,” said Black.

“In this game, we struggled a bit in the first half because they’re zoning our pick-and-roll. In the second half, we did a good job getting to our offense. Our execution became better,” Black pointed out.

 The Texters erased an early 12-point deficit and completed the five-point victory by making a decisive run from an 88-86 edge in the last two minutes.

Fonacier made it a five-point game, 91-86, on a three-pointer and De Ocampo further stretched their lead to 93-86 on two charities after a crucial looseball foul on an inbound play by Mick Pennisi.

Going down the drain with their loss was Dollard’s 33-point and 14-rebound performance.

Howell tossed in only 23 points but grabbed 20 rebounds and added two assists and one steal in 44 minutes of action.

The Texters outrebounded the Energy Cola, 44-37, and dished out more assists, 20-14.

James Mays finally showcased what he can do as a highly-touted import that he is, piling up 29 points and the same number of rebounds to power San Mig Coffee to a 90-80 win over Barangay Ginebra in the nightcap.


“If Marcus (Blakely) was Mr. Everything, James (Mays) is Mr. Everywhere. He’s all over the floor,” said San Mig coach Tim Cone of their prized import.

Winner over Ginebra in the deciding Game Seven of their Philippine Cup Final Four faceoff, the Mixers dealt the Kings another frustration as the former notched their second straight win in the mid-season Commissioner’s Cup.

Ginebra dropped to 1-2.

Meanwhile, Commissioner’s Cup titleholder Alaska Milk tangles with Air21 as regular Monday action starts tonight, also at the Big Dome.

The Aces might be the defending champs, but the Express set out for the 8 p.m. match the fancied squad for their strong start with import Herve Lamizana.

Air21, solid in its debut against Globalport and even in a close loss to Talk n Text the last time out, continued to make a good impression as the Express routed the Barako Bull Energy Cola, 103-85, Friday.

Thus by their fourth game in the tourney, the Express have a chance to match the total number of wins they had racked up in the last two conferences.

They logged a poor 3-11 record in the recent Philippine Cup and a 3-6 mark in the last Governors Cup. They wound up 10th and last in both tourneys.

Alaska coach Luigi Trillo himself is impressed.

“Lamizana makes that team better. And Air21 looks so different taking that leap of faith while adding Jonas Villanueva, Aldrech Ramos, Mike Burstcher and maybe now Rico Villanueva,” said Trillo.

“They’re playing inspired since those changes. (Coach) Franz (Pumaren) has those guys playing hard,” Trillo added.