Talk N’ Text squeaks past Ginebra behind Castro’s 31, clutch steal

Texters’ Jayson Castro tries to evade Kings Greg Slaughter. PBA Images/Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines — Talk ‘N Text slipped past Barangay Ginebra, 104-103, to move into second place in the 2015 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Jayson Castro had a seas0n-high 31 points, six rebounds, nine assists and three steals. His final take away with 2.8 seconds preserved the Tropang Texters’ fourth win in five starts.

“That’s good that we were able to come back. And after that it was anybody’s ball game and we just tried to stay in the game,” said TNT head coach Jong Uichico. “If we play defense this way I think we’ve got a good chance.”

Castro scored 12 points in the second quarter where the Texters roared back from 17 points down. Richard Howell played through foul trouble and came away with 20 points and 17 rebounds for Talk ‘N Text, which tied Purefoods in the standings.

Ranidel de Ocampo added 17 including an uncontested layup from a pass by Howell off a sideline inbound with 6.0 seconds remaining. He also hit go-ahead 3-pointer, 48-47, to give Texters their first lead since trailing, 41-24.

Michael Dunigan led the Kings, whose two-game streak got snapped, with 30 points and 18 boards but missed an unguarded follow up that would’ve tied the game at 102 with under 30 ticks to go.

Ginebra came to within just one after Joseph Yeo buried a tough triple with 2.8 seconds left. The ball immediately went back to the Kings left with the same amount of time on the clock after Howell threw the ball out of bounds in TNT’s next possession.

But the Kings couldn’t capitalized with Castro stealing the ball away from LA Tenorio as the horn sounded.

Both teams shot 51% from the field with Ginebra, which dropped to 2-3,  going 9-of-18 from the three-point area.