PBA: Petron survives Talk ‘N Text rally for win, evens semis series

MANILA, Philippines — Arwind Santos dished out his usual all-around effort as Petron Blaze survived a late rally by Talk ‘N Text, 91-89, Saturday night to knot their best-of-seven semifinals series at 1-1 in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Santos notched another double-double with 11 points and game-high 13 rebounds to go along with three assists, two steals and three blocks.

“Our energy and intensity were there unlike in the last game we started flat,” said Petron head coach Ato Agustin.

Heady point guard Alex Cabagnot topscored with 24 points, 12 off which coming in the pivotal third period, where the Boosters’ offense kicked into high gear.

Joseph Yeo provided the spark with 17 points while reliable veteran Danny Ildefonso contributed 12 points including a clutch left corner jumper that gave Petron Blaze an 89-84 cushion with 20.5 ticks left.

Ildefonso also added 10 rebounds and five assists to his efficient output.

Jimmy Alapag had a team-high 17 points and seven assists for the Tropang Texters. Alapag though had a chance to win the game but missed on a three-point attempts as time expired.

“We’re just completely outplayed,” said Talk ‘N Text mentor Chot Reyes.

“Unfortunately, they wanted it more that we did tonight so they came up with the victory,” Reyes added.

Japeth Aguilar added 17 points including an out-of-nowhere putback slam that seemed to have had his team going midway through the last period.

The Boosters shot 51.6% from the two-point area.

TNT attempted 28 more free throws (28-of-40) than Petron, which went 10-of-12 from the stripe.