Seven Talk n Text players scored in double figures but Dillinger and De Ocampo emerged as the team’s biggest heroes as they executed the play that decided the outcome of the classic contest.
Squeezing through with a follow-up on their 107-92 rout in Game One, the Texters moved a win short of setting up a best-of-seven semifinal confrontation with top seeds Alaska Milk Aces.
The reigning all-Filipino champions, who now have three chances to nail down the semis slot, will try to clinch it in Game Three Wednesday in the same venue.
“I don’t want to dwell on what ifs. We’ll come with a sense of urgency Wednesday,” said Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes.
“We’ve gone through two tough games. It will be 10 times tougher Wednesday and we have to be ready,” Reyes added.
Purefoods likewise completed a huge fightback from a big deficit, moving a win shy of the semis with a 95-94 squeaker over Rain or Shine later in the night.
As in their Wednesday victory, the two Yaps - James and Roger – played key roles for the Giants.
James nailed two free throws with six-tenths of a second left as the Giants grabbed the game from the hands of the Elasto Painters.
Roger earlier brought Purefoods back into the game in tossing 20 of his 22 points in the second half.
Ginebra, seeded one rung higher than Talk n Text at No. 4, needs to win three in a row to move on in the tourney it won the last time in 2007.
The Texters waged a searing rally in the third quarter and raged on in the final period as they overcame 18-point deficits (47-65 and 49-67) to gain the commanding two-game-to-nil lead in the best-of-five series.
Crucial free-throw misses by the Kings proved to be their biggest bogeys, allowing the Texters to stay in the battle before eventually stealing the game on Dillinger’s clutch basket off De Ocampo’s alley-oop throw-in with time down to 2.4 seconds.
“It was a hell of a pass. It was so close the basket that I wanted to dunk it badly. But I opted to go for the safe shot,” said Dillinger.
The versatile Fil-Am player made the shot after JC Intal split his charities giving the Kings a 105-104 edge with 3.3 ticks to go.
Earlier, Eric Menk missed two foul shots then Ronald Tubid muffed a harried jumper, opening up opportunity for TnT to tie at 104-all on a layup by Harvey Carey with 25.1 seconds left.
Cyrus Baguio and Tubid also had earlier missed foul shots. The Kings converted only six of 15 free throws overall in the fourth quarter.
Still, the Kings had the opportunity to win the game, holding a 96-91 lead halfway through the final quarter.
Intal put in a game-high 23 points, including back-to-back three-pointers keeping Ginebra afloat entering the final minute of play.
“I was telling the boys not to give Intal penetrations. But he nearly killed us with his three-pointers,” said Reyes.
“We just kept our heads up and stayed calm,” Reyes added.
Intal and Tubid outscored the entire Talk n Text team in the second quarter as they started to hit their strides, giving the Kings a 16-point spread, 59-43, at halftime.
The flamboyant Ginebra slashers combined for 20 points as against the Texters’ 19 in the second period.
Earlier, Baguio and Menk came out strong on off-the-bench roles as the Kings took the opening quarter at 27-24.
The scores:
First Game
Talk n Text 106 — Castro 19, Carey 17, De Ocampo R. 16, Dillinger 14, Alapag 13, Caradona 11, Peek 10, Belasco 4, De Guzman 1, Ritualo 1, De Ocampo Y. 0.
Ginebra 105 — Intal 23, Tubid 21, Wilson 15, White 9, Baguio 9, Villanueva 9, Caguio 9, Menk 9, Cruz 2, Alvarez 0, Salvacion 0.
Quarterscores: 24-27; 43-59; 78-82; 106-105
Second Game
Purefoods 95 — Yap J. 23, Yap R. 22, Maierhoffer 14, Raymundo 11, Artadi 10, Canaleta 9, Reavis 6, Timberlake 0, Pingris 0, Allado 0.
Rain or Shine 94 — Mercado 26, Norwood 22, Chan 19, Hrabak 12, Reyes 7, Araña 5, Laure 3, Arellano 0, Ibanes 0, Telan 0.
Quarterscores: 17-26; 41-52; 71-76; 95-94
Source: Nelson Beltran | Philstar.com
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