Talk ‘N Text drops Petron

JARED Dillinger of Talk ‘N Text chases down Joseph Yeo of Petron during a transition play. PBA IMAGE/NUKI SABIO

THERE was a choking incident again in the Talk ‘N Text-Petron Blaze game last night, but this one had the Boosters’ hands on their own necks.

The Tropang Texters pounced on the choking Boosters and came charging back from six points down with 37.1 seconds left in regulation to eke out a 93-85 PBA Commissioner’s Cup victory before a big Smart Araneta Coliseum crowd.

Talk ‘N Text drilled in two triples in that span and then held the firepower-laden Boosters to a new league record in extension in points—or the lack of it—to rise above .500 again and make Norman Black declare the win as “the best in my career.”

“We needed a win, even if it was only half-a-point,” Black said.  “It almost came down to that. It’s got to be one of the best wins I have ever had.”

Talk ‘N Text rose to 5-4 with the win and dealt the Boosters just their third loss in nine outings. And this one was particularly painful for Petron, which missed all of its six field goal attempts and had three miscues in overtime, two of them to start extension.

Later in the night, Barangay Ginebra tied Meralco at 4-5 with an 84-81 win.

No team in the 38-year-old history of the league has ever been held scoreless in an overtime period, and Petron—whose franchise has won an all-time-high 19 titles—now has that dubious distinction.

It wouldn’t have come down to that for Petron had it not missed three of its four free throws in the final 37.1, two of them from Arwind Santos with 24.3 remaining which could have bloated an 85-82 lead.