Texters repulse Beermen; Air21 defense holds down Barako

By: June Navarro - 11 years ago

AIR21 import Herve Lamizana (right) tries to go around the defense of Barako Bull big man Dave Marcelo. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

MANILA, Philippines — Coach Norman Black felt sad and lonely in the locker room after his ejection.

The Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters found a way to make him happy and complete later on with a 107-99 victory over the San Miguel Beermen Friday night in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Smart Araneta Coilseum.

Richard Howell imposed his might before Jimmy Alapag hit a couple of big shots in the clutch for the Tropang Texters, who grabbed the solo lead in the tournament and frustrated the Beermen on the debut of their new import.

“It’s very lonely in the locker room. There’s nobody there but yourself,” said Black. “It’s the first time I got ejected from a game in 28 years.”

Air21 threw a tight defensive blanket around Barako Bull’s prolific import and hammered out a cruising 103-85 victory in the first game.

Herve Lamizana, the Express’ athletic import, took on the task of primarily defending Barako’s Joshua Dollard and also provided some offensive punch, scoring 21 points in the third period to lead Air21’s charge.

Dollard came into the game averaging 44.5 points in his first two games. Last night, however, Dollard struggled with his shots and chalked up just 12 markers.

Black left the coaching chores to assistant Sandy Arespacochaga after he was thrown out late in the third for arguing a couple of tough calls.

It hardly mattered as the Tropang Texters kept their focus throughout with Howell and Alapag delivering the goods.

Howell scored 25 of his 38 points in the second half and grabbed 20 rebounds. Alapag knocked down a three and two free throws in the final minute that salvaged the win.

The Beermen’s Kevin Jones, who replaced Josh Boone, wasn’t a failure on his first game as a Beermen. The former NBA D-League All-Star who played for Canton Charge had 35 points and 13 boards, making 16 of 27 shots, but couldn’t deliver the win.

The Beermen dropped Josh Boone, an NBA first-round draft pick, despite helping them win the first two games of the conference with averages of 24 points and 18.5 boards.

Meanwhile, low-post workhorse Enrico Villanueva of Globalport was shipped to the Air21 Express in exchange for Ronnie Matias and Carlo Sharma.