Talk N’ Text gets it together in second half, zooms past Kia
Kelly Williams of Talk N Text (dark) vs Hans Thielle of KIA (light). NUKI SABIO/PBA
MANILA, Philippines—Getting their gears together in the latter half, the Talk N’ Text Tropang Texters left newcomers Kia Sorento in the dusts, 85-62, of the hallowed sporting grounds of the Smart Araneta Coliseum during their PBA Philippine Cup encounter Friday evening.
Talk N’ Text stared at a potential nail-biter as Kia matched them step per step in the first half which ended in a close 39-35.
Kelly Williams, though, would have other ideas as he and Jayson Castro went on an 11-0 run to put the Texters ahead, 54-37 with 5:10 remaining in the third quarter.
Machinegun Kelly started off the run with a personal 6-0 sprint with Castro capping it all off with a nifty layup that left Kia guard Virgil Buensuceso staring at the jersey number of Asia’s best point guard
“We struggled a bit on the offensive side at the start, Kia did a very good job in defending us,” Texters head coach Jong Uichico said as his team nailed a 3-2 win-loss slate. “In the second half, we found more rhythm and we fixed it eventually.”
Sorento had their clutches on the Texters, holding the perennial powers to a measly 29 percent field goal rate while they went on an impressive 41 percent shooting.
Talk N’ Text though would find their much needed offensive drive in the second half as they go for 41 percent shooting with their defense putting the breaks on Kia, holding them to 29 percent.
Kia looked to make a comeback after Williams and Castro’s spark with a 7-2 dash to make it 44-56 but Larry Fonacier struck them down with a well-timed three-pointer from the top of the key just before the third quarter buzzer.
Danny Seigle then made it a 21-point game for the Texters with a nifty throwback of an up-and-under in the post, 74-53, at 5:54 mark of the third.
Captain Jimmy Alapag then entered the court for the first time in the season after Seigle’s conversion.
Uichico said that everyone has to get minutes and that his team should be always ready and not be relaxed.
“We want to give Jimmy and Danny some minutes so that they would not get rusty,” Uichico said. “We could not find an opportunity for them in the first half, but durng the second there was one.”
Talk N’ Text relied on a well-balanced attack with Williams putting up 13 points and 11 boards.
Larry Fonacier, Castro and Elmer Espiritu followed suit with 12, 11 and 10 points respectively.
Karl Dehesa and Rudy Lingganay had 14 and 11 points respectively for Kia which dropped to a 1-4 slate.
Box scores
Talk N’ Text 85- Williams 13, Fonacier 12, Castro 11, Espiritu 10, Washington 8, Seigle 8, Reyes 6, Ganuelas-Rosser 6, Alas 5, Alapag 2, De Ocampo 2, Aban 0, Carey 0, Labagala 0.
Kia 62- Dehesa 14, Lingganay 11, Cervantes 8, Webb 7, Buensuceso 6, Revilla 4, Pascual 4, Jaime 3, Raymundo 3, Thiele 2, Alonzo 0, Saldua 0, Sanga 0, Padilla 0, Alvarez 0.
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