PBA: Castro buries a big trey to lift Texters past Barako

With the game knotted at 76-all with 1:26 left, Jayson Castro hit a huge three from the wing to put his side ahead. As it turned out, that was all the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters needed. The Barako Bull Energy Cola had several chances to force overtime, but couldn't capitalize, resulting in TNT stretching their unbeaten streak to five straight games, with a 79-76 win, Wednesday, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. "Coach Junel [Baculi] did a good job scouting us. Our offenses are very similar," said Talk n' Text head coach Norman Black. "They did a very good job on the mismatches. We did enough defensive stops to win," The reigning Philippine Cup champs stayed the sole unbeaten team, while Barako Bull was unable to build on their win over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, to fall under .500 with a 2-3 record. Roger Yap had a chance to tie the game with a triple but he missed it wide left. After a shot clock violation for the Tropang Texters, Barako had another shot to send the game to overtime, with 8.9 seconds left. Baculi designed a play that gave Mick Pennisi a chance for a three, but the play failed to materialize, with Josh Urbiztondo forced to settle for a bailout heave that fell short. It was a disappointing finish for a Barako Bull squad that gamely fought back from a fourth quarter deficit. Doug Kramer scored five straight points to tie the game at 72-all, but Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes countered with four points. Enrico Villanueva then tied the game anew at 76-all, with four minutes left, but Barako was unable to score on multiple occasions. Things were close right from opening tip, with Barako exploiting their brawn in the paint for an 18-17 first quarter lead. Come the second, the Texters countered with their outside sniping, as Castro, Jimmy Alapag, and Larry Fonacier knocked down treys to give the Tropa the lead at the half, 46-45. Out of the intermission, a triple from Pennisi and a floater from Ronald Tubid switched the lead over to Barako Bull's side, 56-52, early in the third, but Castro responded with a 7-0 run of his own, to make it 68-61, TNT leading, with a quarter left. TNT had a horrible outing from the field, shooting only a little better than 40 percent. They made up for it by dominating the boards, grabbing 54 caroms, compared to only 39 for Barako. After seeing their win streak nearly snapped, coach Black said that he wasn't putting pressure on his team to keep their record clean, saying, "The easiest route to the championship is the best route. "We just want to pick up as many wins as we can." Jayson Castro paced TNT with 15 points, two rebounds and two assists. Larry Fonacier added 13, despite hitting on just 1-of-5 three-point attempts, while the big man tandem of Ali Peek and Kelly Williams combined for 17 markers and 18 boards. Enrico Villanueva top-scored with 16 points, and added seven rebounds, the same amount Doug Kramer hauled in, along with 15 points of his own. Sean Anthony and Ronald Tubid each chipped in 12 points.  - Carlo Pamintuan/Renee Fopalan, GMA News