MANILA, Philippines — Relentless in offense at crunch time, Talk ‘N Text turned back sister team Meralco, 80-72, to stretch its winning streak to three games Tuesday night in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations at Cuneta Astrodome.
The Tropang Texters earned numerous second chance opportunities when the game hung in the balance in the waning minutes and made their free throws to eventually rise to 4-2 overall.
Rookie swingman Matt Ganuelas-Rosser connected on a reverse layup and had the biggest offensive rebound in the next Talk ‘N Text play that led to a Ranidel de Ocampo triple, making it 76-68 going into the final 2:11.
“We didn’t execute our offense very well,” Jong Uichico said. “We barely found a way to score. We just got crucial rebounds in the end and made crucial [defensive] stops in the end.”
Meralco dropped to 3-2 with the loss, which was aided by poor ball handling and a couple of missed three-pointers at the height of the TNT closing spurt.
The scores:
Second Game
TALK ‘N TEXT 80—Reyes Ryan 17, De Ocampo 15, Castro 12, Alapag 7, Carey 7, Fonacier 7, Rosser 7, Washington 4, Alas 2, Williams 2, Espiritu 0, Reyes Rob 0, Seigle 0, Aban 0, Labagala 0.
MERALCO 72—David 17, Anthony 9, Hugnatan 9, Cortez 8, Dillinger 8, Macapagal 8, Atkins 5, Hodge 4, Ildefonso 2, Caram 2, Ferriols 0, Buenafe 0, Sena 0, Guevarra 0.
Quarters: 22-19, 37-33, 53-55, 80-72