Walker, Alaska take advantage of import-less Talk ‘N Text

Kelly Williams of Talk N Text (dark) vs Henry Walker of Alaska (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines—Alaska took advantage of an all-Filipino Talk ‘N Text side to win, 103-91, in Alex Compton’s head-coaching debut Monday night in the 2014 PBA Governor’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Aces import Henry Walker had his way with 27 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists as the Tropang Texters, who played minus their reinforcement Othyus Jeffers due to contract problems with an NBA team, struggled to contain the former NBA veteran.

“Just trying to be aggressive. The guys here got great confidence,” said Walker.

“It’s good that we won,” Alaska head coach Alex Compton told reporters. “The guys played great. Talk ‘N Text was in a tough position without Jeffers. He’s really a good import. It was obviously a clear advantage for us. Just an unfortunate situation for them.”

Compton took over the coaching reins from Luigi Trillo Sunday.

The Aces got off to a slow start and found themselves behind by as much as 12 points before coming alive in the second quarter, where Walker took matters into his own hands with 10 points.

“We had some fundamental breakdowns. Ranidel (de Ocampo) was killing us. We just had some breakdowns and talk ‘N text shoots the ball so well so you can’t give them open layups and open jumpers,” said Compton of his team’s struggles early on.

TNT pulled to within eight, 78-86, midway through the fourth quarter on a Harvey Carey jumper but the absence of Jeffers proved to be too much. It also didn’t help that Alaska would go on to hit 56 percent of their shots from the field.

A 3-pointer by JVee Casio pushed the Aces’ lead back to 12, 91-79, before a pull-up jumper by Walker from the top-of-the-key kept the Texters at bay, 97-86, with exactly two minutes left.

“He had 10 assists and guys really like playing with him,” Compton said of Walker.

The Aces hiked their record to 2-1 as they bounced back from a loss to the Globalport Batang Pier while the Texters dropped to 1-1.

De Ocampo carried much of the load for TNT with 27 points, 13 coming in the opening quarter.