Castro takes charge as Texters forge tie

MANILA, philippines — Jason Castro obviously thought that he wasn’t able to do enough for Talk ‘N Text in the series-opener of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals against San Mig Coffee.

Doubling his effort Sunday night, Castro did the most damage on the Mixers in an 86-76 victory that allowed the Tropang Texters to square their best-of-five title series at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The fleet-footed Gilas national team standout tossed in 25 points in the first three quarters alone as the Texters established complete command before draining the triple of the night heading into the game’s dying minutes that sealed San Mig’s doom.

RYAN Reyes of TNT breaks up a San Mig Coffee play by holding on to James Yap in last night’s Game 2 at the Big Dome. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / NUKI SABIO

Castro, the prime candidate for the Best Player of the Conference award, finished with 30 points. His triple under heavy pressure snuffed the final rally by the Mixers and restored an 82-73 lead for the Texters.

“I should make special mention of Jason Castro. He carried us in this game tonight,” said Talk ‘N Text coach Norman Black, who didn’t know what hit his team in Game 1.

Castro scored 17 points in the series opener, but the bulk of them came from a 9-of-12 clip from the free throw line.

“Effort is the number one thing,” Black said. “We played with a lot more intensity, a lot more energy (in this game). We had to go back to the drawing board to see what the San Mig team was doing to us.”

Import Richard Howell also raised his game several notches higher, shooting 18 points that went with 20 boards—nine of them off the offensive glass—as Talk ‘N Text dominated the shaded lane and finished with a 47-40 edge in rebounds.

Game 1 was decided in a lopsided manner by the Mixers, who broke away in the third period and coasted along the rest of the way.

Talk ‘N Text seemed poised to doing the same last night, padding a four-point halftime lead to 16 at the end of the third, only to encounter stiff resistance in the final six minutes from the Mixers who had their best offensive players on the bench by then.

James Mays, after scoring just seven points in the first 42 minutes, scored eight in the final six and took the Mixers to as close as 73-79 only for Castro to drill that decisive three.

Game 3 is set tomorrow night, also at the Big Dome in Cubao, and with the series reduced to a best-of-three affair, it could boil down to the most crucial game of these title playoffs.

San Mig coach Tim Cone struggled to get the best out of James Yap and Peter June Simon offensively, keeping his two scoring aces on the bench practically the whole fourth period.

After combining for 33 on Friday in a 95-80 win, Simon and Yap tossed in 10 between them. They played a combined 59 minutes in Game 1, and just 43 last night.

Mays and rookie Justin Melton led the Mixers with 15 points each.

The scores:

TALK ‘N TEXT 86—Castro 30, Howell 18, Fonacier 9, De Ocampo 8, Williams 8, Carey 4, Alapag 4, Canaleta 3, Reyes Ryan 2, Reyes Rob 0.

SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE 76—Mays 15, Melton 15, Pingris 11, Barroca 7, Sangalang 7, Yap 6, Devance 5, Simon 4, De Ocampo 2, Mallari 2, Reavis 2.

Quarters: 19-15, 37-33, 65-49, 86-76

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Texters defeat Mixers to tie PBA finals series