Talk ‘N Text survives late-game meltdown against Barako Bull

MANILA, Philippines – Talk ‘N Text nearly blew away a 20-point margin but found key breaks in the PLDT myDSL PBA Philippine Cup on Friday, December 20 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Jayson Castro scored four straight markers to push TNT ahead, 78-74 before Mick Pennisi canned back-to-back triples to tie the game at 80-all.

Ranidel De Ocampo then fired a crucial trey to give the lead to the Texters, 83-80 with just over a minute left in overtime.

Willie Miller then had a chance to tie the game after being fouled by Larry Fonacier from three-point land, but missed all three free throws, leading to two charities for Nonoy Baclao to make it 85-80.

Pennisi and Dorian Pena had several chances to keep it close but Talk ‘N Text found the defensive stops to seal the deal.

Jayson Castro once again flashed his phenomenal form, scoring 23 points, hauling down 6 rebounds, and dishing out 9 assists. Ranidel De Ocampo added 17 points and 10 boards, while Willie Miller carried the fight for Barako Bull with 16 markers.

Coach Norman Black said they’re lucky to win the match after a meltdown in the second half, but they’ll need to fix problems soon.

“We certainly struggled with their zone defense; it nearly cost us this game,” said TNT head coach Norman Black. “We struggled with our shooting but Jayson Castro had some big shots for us. We lost energy in the second half.”

Barako Bull hot a horrendous 14.3% from the field in the opening quarter and wounded up with just 18.9% in the first half, scoring 19 points–the worst in their franchise history.

The Tropang Texters appeared relaxed, but still managed to lead by 20 against the Energy who looked in disarray from the get go.

Jayson Castro left his defenders in the dust, scoring six points in less than a minute; Ranidel De Ocampo canned in two triples later on, and Kelly Williams finished a thunderous reverse alley-oop slam before Talk ‘N Text rolled to a 39-19 bubble after 24 minutes of action.

However, things changed in the third period when the Energy switched to a 2-3 zone. Little by little, the Energy trimmed Talk ‘N Text’s 20-point halftime lead with Willie Miller scoring 9 points in the third.

Larry Fonacier managed to keep Barako at bay as the third quarter ended 57-44 in favor of the Texters.

Barako turned to their 2-2-1 trap in the final quarter which resulted into a 4-minute scoring drought for the Texters. Jayson Castro managed to score five straight to lift TNT’s lead to 64-51 with just 7:10 left.

Willie Miller and JC Intal then conspired in the next minutes, firing 12 in a 20-7 run to knot it at 71-all.

Both teams had their chances to salvage the game in regulation; Jai Reyes’ three pointer was well-challenged by Intal that left 7.1 seconds for Barako to operate.

Denok Miranda then turned it over with just 2.4 ticks before Jayson Castro’s last-ditch effort went astray.

TNT scored their fifth win in seven games, moving to solo third in the team standings. Barako dropped their fifth straight match after winning their first two games at the start of the conference. – with reports from Levi Verora/Rappler.com