PBA: Alapag leads Talk ‘N Text rout of Ginebra
Jimmy Alapag of Talk N Text (dark) vsLA Tenorio and mark Caguioa of Ginebra (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines — Defending champion Talk ‘N Text took control early and kept its foot at the pedal to leave Barangay Ginebra San Miguel behind, 103-79, in the 2014 PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Veteran point guard Jimmy Alapag set the tone for the Tropang Texters with his superb shooting — making all of his six field goal attempts — en route to a 17-point first half built on five 3-pointers.
“Definitely not,” said TNT head coach Norman Black if he expected his team to win in lopsided fashion against the top-seeded Ginebra side. “We’ve lost our last three games. This is a game where we just want to build our confidence and momentum heading into the quarterfinals. It’s a good win for us.”
TNT shot 63% (10-of-16) from long range in the first two quarters as its 11-point buffer at the end of the opening period grew to 25, 62-37, after back-to-back treys by Ranidel de Ocampo and reserve guard Jai Reyes with under a minute left in the second quarter.
The Texters hope to carry their impressive win into their best-of-three quarterfinals duel with the surging San Mig Coffee Mixers, who have won four straight, on Tuesday.
“They’re going to be a handful for us to handle,” Black, whose team led by as much as 28 in the fourth quarter, said of San Mig Coffee.
Alapag would miss his sixth attempt from deep and finished with 17 points and eight assists while forward Danny Seigle led all scorers with 20 points.
Ginebra on the other hand, will face the winner between the Meralco and Alaska knockout tiff for the last playoff slot set on Monday in the quarters with the Kings owning a twice-to-beat advantage.
Seven-foot rookie Greg Slaughter had 15 points but only grabbed five rebounds for Ginebra.
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