Talk ‘N Text survived a big scare from Coca-Cola and held on for a 107-104 win Saturday night in the KFC-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup at the Lagao Gymnasium in General Santos City.
The Tropang Texters sank four crucial free throws in the closing seconds and Ali Peek had one huge swat on Alex Cabagnot that preserved the win for them and move up in the team standing with 7-4 win-loss mark.
Harvey Carey led the way for the defending champion with 20 points and 14 rebounds in a sterling performance off the bench for coach Chot Reyes.
Mark Cardona led Talk ‘N Text with 21 points while Pong Escobal was also a big contributor in the victory with 16 points. Jimmy Alapag chipped in 15 while Peek had 10 but none bigger than his crucial block in the end game.
Mark Macapagal paced all scorers with 23 points but he missed a potential-game tying three-pointer in the last play of the Tigers to absorb their seventh straight defeat to go down deeper in the standings with 1-10.
Ricky Calimag had a conference-high 19 points while Alex Cabagnot and Wesley Gonzales chipped in 16 and15 markers respectively for interim coach Bo Perasol.
Coke actually came back from 14 points down late in the third period and even took a 104-103 lead after Dennis Espino followed up his own miss with 48.9 seconds left in the game.
Peek quickly put the lead back to Talk ‘N Text with two free throws on the sixth and final foul of Espino, 105-104, 30.4 seconds remaining.
Perasol sued for a timeout and designed a play for Cabagnot at the top of the key. The 5’11 guard drove hard to the hoop but his lay-up attempt was swatted away by Peek that resulted to two more free throws from Jimmy Alapag, 107-104 with 13.3 seconds left.
Macapagal had the opportunity to send the game in overtime but was forced to hurl an off-balance three-point attempt and Cardona collared the defensive board to seal the win for the Tropang Texters.
It was a huge win for Talk ‘N Text, which came from a disappointing 93-95 loss to Rain or Shine, as it now stays in the hunt for the two automatic semifinal seats.
The Tropang Texters, who missed the services of Jared Dillinger due to a sore knee, are now a half a game behind the third-placer Barangay Ginebra (7-3). Alaska is leading the league with 9-1 slate followed by the streaking San Miguel Beer (9-2).
For Coke, this is now its worst start since joining the league in 2002.
But the Tigers almost pulled this one over the heavily-favored Talk ‘N Text as it started the game with a 15-8 lead before the Carey entered the game and scattered 9 of his 20 points in the first period to give his team a 34-28 lead.
The Tropang Texters led by as much as 14, 86-72, 2:46 left in the third but the Tigers refused to surrender easily and even took a 104-103 edge, their first taste of the lead since 23-20 late in the first quarter.
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