PBA IMAGES/Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines—With its back against the wall, Talk N’ Text repelled upset-minded Petron, 103-94, and stayed alive Friday night in the 2012 PBA Governor’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Reigning MVP Jimmy Alapag, chalking up 21 points, unleashed a backbreaking trey in the final minutes, finally creating the separation for the Texters with a nine-point breather after a taut third quarter.
Import Paul Harris outmatched his counterpart and churned out a stellar game-high 31 points, last two of which came from a drive and the bucket which capped the victory in the final minute, along with nine boards and four assist.
The Texters, yearning to keep their streak of finals appearances on track, need to overcome their final assigment to get one of the two top spots—but they have to beat Rain or Shine, B-Meg and Ginebra to it.
The victory, though, which hikes Talk N’ Text’s record to 7-5, certainly helps its cause, keeping the Texters within striking distance of the Elastopainters (9-3) and the Gin Kings and the Llamados (8-4).
Already criticized for its lack of fervor in the payoff quarter in the past few games, Petron followed it up by losing a 72-70 edge entering the final frame.
It was another fourth quarter collapse for the dethroned champion Boosters, who lost grip of a close contest and just caved into allowing the Texters to pull away.
Petron even had the lead, 81-80, early in the payoff period on a basket by Chris Lutz but quickly succumbed to Talk N’ Text’s 12-2 roll.
Lutz topscored for the Boosters with 23 points, while recently acquired import Marcus Faison just struggled with 10.