Petron snaps 9-game skid vs TNT

Henry Sims (light/petron) vs Jerome Jordan PBA IMAGE / Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines—For a coach like Olsen Racela, there’s no such thing as a no-bearing game.

Racela found the right motivation Wednesday night to fuel Petron Blaze to an 87-76 win over Talk ‘N Text to end the elimination round of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

“It’s hard to motivate a team when there’s nothing at stake,” admitted Racela. “But for this we told the guys that we haven’t won against Talk ‘N Text in a long while.”

Racela’s words proved enough as the Boosters, who ended the elimination round in third place, snapped a nine-game losing skid to the Tropang Texters with import Henry Sims and June Mar Fajardo anchoring the charge.

Sims had 22 points, 23 rebounds, two steals and two blocks while Fajardo added 17 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

The two teams meet anew on Friday in Game 1 of their best-of-three quarterfinals series where Racela thinks the real TNT would show up.