LA Tenorio of Ginebra (light) vs Matt GAnuelas-Rosser of Talk N Text (dark). NUKI SABIO/PBA
MANILA, Philippines — Talk ‘N Text shut down Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the fourth quarter to win their knockout duel, 83-67, and book the last semifinals ticket in the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Tropang Texters tightened their defensive screws late to hold the Kings to just nine points in the final quarter.
“It’s really tough to play Ginebra. We took some gambles and I thought we defended well,” said TNT head coach Jong Uichico, who also said giving some of his players longer minutes was a risk he had to take.
“We didn’t play good offense in the first half and I think we did better in the second half. We made important stops in the game,” added Uichico.
Those stops came in the final four minutes where Ginebra was held scoreless.
The Kings were just down by five, 71-66, after LA Tenorio banked in a jumper with still 5:36 left but the Tropang Texters took it from there and finished the game on a 12-1 run.
Jayson Castro scored a game-high 23 points and Ranidel de Ocampo had 17 points for the Texters, who arranged a best-of-seven semis series with the top seeded San Miguel Beermen which starts on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“San Miguel and Ginebra are very similar having a big man. We really don’t have a big man so we’ll have our hands full. We just have to find a way,” said Uichico, who won steered the Beermen to six championships as the franchise’s former coach.
Talk ‘N Text inflicted one of San Miguel Beer’s two losses in the eliminations with a 107-101 victory last Dec. 5.
The other semifinals matchup between Rain or Shine and Alaska begins on Thursday also at the MOA Arena.
Rookie Matt Ganuelas-Rosser also made quite an impact with 13 points, four rebounds, three steals and four blocks. He converted a three-point play off a drive and dish by Castro that stretched Talk ‘N Text’s lead to 11, 78-67, with 2:56 left.
Harvey Carey followed it up with another three-point play to pounce on Ginebra’s befuddled defense to seal the game, 81-67, with 54.9 seconds remaining.
Ginebra shot just 29% from the field including a 33% clip from the 2-point area despite having the likes of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar.
The Texters were able to neutralized the Kings’ frontline of Slaughter and Aguilar with the 7-foot center scoring only eight points on a woeful 3-of-12 shooting from the field. Slaughter only had three rebounds.
Castro got Talk ‘N Text’s offense going in the second half by accounting for his team’s first 10 points in the third quarter.
The Texters, who have now won six straight games dating back into the elimination round, broke loose from a 52-deadlock thanks to a 12-2 blast behind de Ocampo.
LA Tenorio paced the Kings with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists.