MANILA, Philippines—Jimmy Alapag had a team-high 23 points, including a deep triple down the stretch, to help Talk ‘N Text hold off Powerade,102-96, Monday night for a 2-0 cushion in their best-of-seven series in the Philippine Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Alapag uncorked a three-pointer from the left elbow after a solid screen set by Ranidel de Ocampo that kept the Texters’ head above water, 99-93, with 1:19 left.
“We still need to get two more. All we need is to take another step towards our ultimate objective,” said TNT head coach Chot Reyes, whose squad enjoyed a 56-42 rebounding advantage. The reigning MVP went five-of-eight from downtown to go along with three assists.
Ryan Reyes sealed the game with a steal and finish off a weak pass from Tigers bigman Doug Kramer.
Jayson Castro also came up big with 19 points, five assists and three steals.
Scoring machine Gary David notched his 11th 30-point game of the conference with exactly 30 markers with half of it coming at the stripe.
David also dished out four assists and three steals.
“Gary (David) got his 30; I felt like we did a good job with the other players,” coach Reyes said.
Top overall pick JV Casio announced his return with 17 points while Marcio Lassiter scored 15 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists.
Kramer got 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead the league in most double-doubles in the conference with 17.
Game 3 is set on Wednesday at 6:45p.m. in the same venue.