TALK 'N TEXT survived a gritty Barangay Ginebra rally in the stretch to escape with a 113-111 win in their PBA Governors Cup showdown on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Texters were leading, 103-90, midway through the fourth quarter when the Kings went on an 18-6 run capped by a Cedric Bozeman hook to close the gap to just one point, 109-108, with 41.1 seconds to go.
But an acrobatic layup and two free throws from sixth man Jayson Castro in the ensuing possessions sealed the deal for the Texters, who scored their third straight victory.
Paul Harris pumped in 30 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists to lead the Texters, who moved to third place with a 4-3 win-loss mark.
Harris, however, had a sloppy start at the defensive end as he let his man, Dylan Ababou, score all of his seven markers in the first quarter.
“I was upset with Harris at the start,” Texters coach Chot Reyes said. “I felt he wasn’t doing his job defensively.”
The Kings started the game strong and led, 14-4, but TnT rallied to jump out on top, 27-24, at the end of the first canto.
“We had a very lackadaisical start,” Reyes said. “Luckily the second unit came in and lifted us.”
Ranidel de Ocampo led the bench mob as he hit four of six three-point shots to tally 21 points.
Larry Fonacier finished with 19 points and nine boards, while Castro had 18 and five assists for TNT.
Bozeman and Mark Caguioa fired 32 points apiece for Ginebra, but no one else scored in double figures for the squad, now at 4-4.
The Texters hope to keep their streak going as they next face the top two teams in the conference, B-Meg on Wednesday and Rain or Shine on Sunday.
“It's going to be a tough week,” Reyes said.
The scores:
TALK N TEXT 113 - Harris 30, De Ocampo 21, Fonacier 19, Castro 18, Aguilar 10, Alapag 5,
Reyes 3, Williams 3, Aban 2, Peek 2.
BARANGAY GINEBRA 111 - Bozeman 32, Caguioa 32, Ababou 7, Wilson W. 7, Helterbrand 7, Hatfield 7,
Cortez 6, Canaleta 4, Villanueva 4, Maierhofer 3, Raymundo 2, Menk 0.
Quarterscores: 27-24, 54-47, 83-78, 113-111.
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