Solid Texters troop into final

MANILA, Philippines - Talk n Text shrugged off a listless start and pounded Air21 three-fourths of the way with a solid offense as the Texters cruised to a 118-104 win and into the finals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Tropang Texters, the Philippine Cup titlists, got a shot at back-to-back championships as they kept their amazing romp dating back to the elimination round, booting the Express out via a three-game sweep in their semifinal duel.

Paul Harris and company pounced on the Express for the fourth time in the tourney, sending Talk n Text to a 10th finals stint with a crack at a fourth crown in franchise history.

Veteran coach Chot Reyes made his 12th title playoff putting him on the line for a possible seventh personal championship.

“Obviously back-to-back (championships) is possible because we made the finals. The prospect presents itself because we’re in the finals but we want to keep our vision just on the next game,” said Reyes.

“We’re not looking too far ahead. Our first priority is to take a break, get strong and get ready against whoever we play in the finals,” Reyes added.

Talk n Text clinched the series on a scorching 56-percent shooting as against Air21’s paltry 27-percent clip in the second and third quarters.

The Texters zoomed to a 21-point spread at the end of the third period in a huge turnaround from a slow start that saw them trail by 12 early in the second canto.

Larry Fonacier hit a three-pointer then Ali Peek sank two charities as the Texters posted their biggest lead at 84-58 then simply went through the motion to complete the win – the team’s 11th straight in the tournament and 25th in 30 games in the season.

“Now we can exhale a little bit. In playing Air21, we took a deep breath, and we were saying don’t exhale; and just keep on pushing and pushing,” said Reyes.

“You saw that we can’t let our guard down against Air21, and that’s good preparation for the finals for us,” Reyes added.

The results, however, showed otherwise.

Talk n Text dominated Air21 in the series, winning by an average of 13 points.

With their back against the wall in this game, the Express started strong, led by as many as 12 at 33-21, but couldn’t keep up as the Texters made their move starting in the second quarter.

Alpha Bangura was a big disappointment for the Express, struggling with a 1-of-9 field-goal shooting and fouling out with a good seven minutes left to play.

Wynne Arboleda scored 23 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter with Dondon Hontiveros adding 16 in the same period as the Express made a last-ditch stand, coming to within 13 a couple of times.

But Texters simply shrugged off the threat, hitting perimeter jumpers and scoring inside to frustrate the Express.

Harris and Jimmy Alapag poured in 28 and 27, respectively, Fonacier added 19, including four treys while Kelly Williams contributed double-double numbers with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Fonacier led the decisive TnT attack in the second quarter that pushed the Texters ahead, 51-44, at the half.