Powerade trips TNT, stays alive; David rules player derby

MANILA, Philippines –Hanging tough this time, Powerade Friday night averted another fourth quarter collapse to repulse Talk ‘N Text, 100-97, to live another day in their PBA Philippine Cup title series before close to 13,000 boisterous fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Gary David, in a virtual acceptance speech for winning the Best Player of the Conference trophy earlier, scored 35 points on another hot-shooting night as the Tigers averted being a nasty title series footnote by preventing a Talk ‘N Text sweep.

Sean Anthony scored 19 points, including the go-ahead basket with 39.8 seconds remaining that broke a 97-all tie, before David scored on a free throw with 14.6 ticks left to give the Tigers some breathing room.

David scored 13 of his total in the fourth quarter, with his jumper at the 6:07 mark opening up a 92-81 lead that looked safe enough until the Texters doggedly fought back and almost turned the game around.

Jason Castro, who scored 16 third quarter points, actually missed two free throws after that Anthony basket before Jimmy Alapag’s potential game-tying triple at the buzzer fell just a tad short.

Game 5 is set tomorrow also at the Big Dome and the Tigers will try to become just the second team since Alaska in 1996 to take a best-of-seven title series, after being down 0-3, to a sixth game with another win.

“First, I really have to thank the Lord for giving us this victory,” coach Bo Perasol said. “We were talking about just getting one game, not thinking that they are going to sweep us.

“We really wanted to win just one and show everyone that we can compete against a team like Talk ‘N Text.”

David, the tournament’s leading scorer with over 25 points a game, got 411 points in the statistical points race and 139 from player’s votes for finishing second to Santos in both departments.

But the 6-foot-2 former Lyceum standout beat Santos, 568-380, in media votes and 150-75 from the PBA to pool 1,268 points and beat the reedy Petron Blaze forward by a mere 109 points.

Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra now has the talented offensive big man that it needs to complement its run-and-gun style of play after the three-team deal involving Barako Bull and B-Meg was approved by the league’s Office of the Commissioner.

The trade was given the green light without a hitch by commissioner Chito Salud, which means that Ginebra lost JC Intal, Ronald Tubid and rookie Riel Cervantes to gain Raymundo.

Intal was initially traded to Barako Bull for promising rookie Dylan Ababou before being dealt to B-Meg, and the Energy’s second-round pick this year, for the rights to Raymundo.

Barako Bull then gave up Raymundo to the Kings in exchange for Tubid, Cervantes and Ginebra’s second-round draft right in 2014.

In another development, Barangay Ginebra has appointed former Tanduay and Sta. Lucia coach Alfrancis Chua as coaching consultant.

“The trade was fairly sound and reasonable,” said Salud, who received the proposal near the end of office hours on Thursday, in a statement.

The scores:
POWERADE 100—David 35, Anthony 19, Lassiter 13, Kramer 11, Adducul 10, Casio 7, Lingganay 3, Vanlandingham 2, Cruz 0, Crisano 0.
TALK ‘N TEXT 97—Fonacier 20, Castro 18, Alapag 18, Carey 11, Reyes 10, Peek 8, Williams 7, De Ocampo 3, Dillinger 2, Aguilar 0, Alvarez 0, Lao 0.
Quarters: 25-23, 53-43, 75-75, 100-97