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PBA: De Ocampo drains dagger three as Talk 'N Text draw even with Ginebra
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Ranidel De Ocampo came up clutch late, nailing a dagger triple that gave his side a two-possession lead in the dying moments of the game Photo by KC Cruz
(Updated 8:50pm) Ranidel De Ocampo overcame foul trouble to score 10 points in the final period, and lead the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 85-79, knotting their best-of-five PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals series at one win apiece in the process, Sunday, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ginebra had previously routed the 2012-13 Philippine Cup champions 104-81, Friday.
Trailing by nine heading into the final frame, Talk 'N Text ripped Ginebra for their turnovers early in the fourth, as De Ocampo, Finals MVP in the last conference, and the rest of the Texters reeled off 12 unanswered points, 71-68. Save for a transition triple by Josh Urbiztondo, TNT forced Ginebra to grind it out in the half court, retaking the lead with four and a half minutes to play on a De Ocampo and-one, 76-75.
Consecutive drives by Jayson Castro kept TNT afloat, 80-79, until Ginebra called their last timeout with a minute and a half to play. LA Tenorio missed a baseline drive, and the Texters took advantage with a De Ocampo trey on the other end, 83-79, leaving 33.7 seconds on the clock. Urbiztondo misfired from the right wing, and Harvey Carey controlled the rebound as Talk 'N Text closed out the game with Jimmy Alapag at the charity stripe, the veteran point guard canning both charities to seal the deal.
Jayson Castro, who was named Best Player of the PHL Cup, led all scorers with 22 points and four assists. Alapag added 17 points and eight dimes. De Ocampo finished with 16 points, while import Jerome Jordan tallied 14 points and 12 rebounds.
"Today was a do-or-die game for us. I don't know the percentages of teams coming back after being down 0-2, but we knew going into the fourth quarter that this was it. We either went down or tied this thing up," said Texters head coach Norman Black.
"It's a good thing that we decided to play defense tonight. Unlike in our last game where it was missing from start to finish, we came out with more intensity, more focus and more energy, and that's what it's going to take if we want to make the finals of this conference," Black added.
"I'm really happy with the performance of our locals tonight. Some of the guys stepped up to take up the place of those who were missing," Black also said. TNT forward Ali Peek sat out with an injury, while Jared Dillinger has been ruled out of the conference after his car rammed a Skyway post while driving at four in the morning on Saturday.
[Related: Talk 'N Text's Jared Dillinger figures in car accident, ruled out of postseason]
"I'm not really sure of the extent of [Dillinger's] injuries but he did hurt his midsection and his pelvis, and as far as I know he'll be out for a while in this conference, and possibly in the next conference," he finished.
Unlike the first game, the Texters played with more energy on defense and forced Ginebra into turnovers for points in the open court. Ginebra's efforts to post Vernon Macklin had been unsuccessful thus far, while Jerome Jordan and Ranidel De Ocampo combined for 10 points in a 12-2 lead in the opening period.
Ginebra called timeout halfway through and produced a Josh Urbiztondo triple on their next possession. LA Tenorio followed it with an up-and-under move to the rim as his team rattled off nine unanswered points, fishing De Ocampo's third personal foul in the process, to trail by one.
Jordan drained a jumper with under three minutes to play, giving TNT their first basket in nearly four minutes, as his team closed the half strong. Jayson Castro scored six of his team's last 10 points, staving off Kerby Raymundo's own makes to keep a 22-20 lead after the first.
Rabeh Al-Husseini did work down low to give the Texters a 27-22 lead early in the second quarter. However, Ginebra rallied back on consecutive treys by Urbiztondo and JJ Helterbrand, capped by a vicious Macklin throwdown over Jordan to knot the game at 30-apiece.
Urbiztondo and Jimmy Alapag traded three-pointers with five minutes gone in the quarter, as the latter's team tried to change things up by pushing the tempo with transition looks. Solid defense by the Texters allowed Ginebra just two more field goals over the next five minutes, while eventually piling on eight unanswered points, 43-39, on charities by Harvey Carey.
Similar to the first, Castro drives fended off makes by Raymundo from the block as TNT remained in control, 47-44, at halftime.
The Texters made 19-of-40 from the field after two quarters (47.5 percent) while Ginebra was 18-of-37 (48.6 percent). TNT held a 7-0 margin in fast break points and outpaced their opponents in assists by a wide margin.
De Ocampo checked back in after the break but sat anew after getting his fourth personal foul at 10:42, defending Macklin on the block. Meanwhile, Chris Ellis scored Ginebra's first four as they leaked out on the break, taking a 52-49 lead on a Raymundo put-back.
Talk 'N Text dug in on the defensive end, denying Macklin and the rest of Ginebra easy looks on their possessions. Meanwhile, Castro carried the Texters' offense as they slowed the pace, but he couldn't capitalize on a couple and-one plays as they trailed, 57-55.Ginebra had previously routed the 2012-13 Philippine Cup champions 104-81, Friday.
Trailing by nine heading into the final frame, Talk 'N Text ripped Ginebra for their turnovers early in the fourth, as De Ocampo, Finals MVP in the last conference, and the rest of the Texters reeled off 12 unanswered points, 71-68. Save for a transition triple by Josh Urbiztondo, TNT forced Ginebra to grind it out in the half court, retaking the lead with four and a half minutes to play on a De Ocampo and-one, 76-75.
Consecutive drives by Jayson Castro kept TNT afloat, 80-79, until Ginebra called their last timeout with a minute and a half to play. LA Tenorio missed a baseline drive, and the Texters took advantage with a De Ocampo trey on the other end, 83-79, leaving 33.7 seconds on the clock. Urbiztondo misfired from the right wing, and Harvey Carey controlled the rebound as Talk 'N Text closed out the game with Jimmy Alapag at the charity stripe, the veteran point guard canning both charities to seal the deal.
Jayson Castro, who was named Best Player of the PHL Cup, led all scorers with 22 points and four assists. Alapag added 17 points and eight dimes. De Ocampo finished with 16 points, while import Jerome Jordan tallied 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Jayson Castro (L) gets ready to blow by his man Josh Urbiztondo (C) and Chris Ellis. KC Cruz
"It's a good thing that we decided to play defense tonight. Unlike in our last game where it was missing from start to finish, we came out with more intensity, more focus and more energy, and that's what it's going to take if we want to make the finals of this conference," Black added.
"I'm really happy with the performance of our locals tonight. Some of the guys stepped up to take up the place of those who were missing," Black also said. TNT forward Ali Peek sat out with an injury, while Jared Dillinger has been ruled out of the conference after his car rammed a Skyway post while driving at four in the morning on Saturday.
[Related: Talk 'N Text's Jared Dillinger figures in car accident, ruled out of postseason]
"I'm not really sure of the extent of [Dillinger's] injuries but he did hurt his midsection and his pelvis, and as far as I know he'll be out for a while in this conference, and possibly in the next conference," he finished.
Unlike the first game, the Texters played with more energy on defense and forced Ginebra into turnovers for points in the open court. Ginebra's efforts to post Vernon Macklin had been unsuccessful thus far, while Jerome Jordan and Ranidel De Ocampo combined for 10 points in a 12-2 lead in the opening period.
Ginebra called timeout halfway through and produced a Josh Urbiztondo triple on their next possession. LA Tenorio followed it with an up-and-under move to the rim as his team rattled off nine unanswered points, fishing De Ocampo's third personal foul in the process, to trail by one.
Jordan drained a jumper with under three minutes to play, giving TNT their first basket in nearly four minutes, as his team closed the half strong. Jayson Castro scored six of his team's last 10 points, staving off Kerby Raymundo's own makes to keep a 22-20 lead after the first.
Rabeh Al-Husseini did work down low to give the Texters a 27-22 lead early in the second quarter. However, Ginebra rallied back on consecutive treys by Urbiztondo and JJ Helterbrand, capped by a vicious Macklin throwdown over Jordan to knot the game at 30-apiece.
Urbiztondo and Jimmy Alapag traded three-pointers with five minutes gone in the quarter, as the latter's team tried to change things up by pushing the tempo with transition looks. Solid defense by the Texters allowed Ginebra just two more field goals over the next five minutes, while eventually piling on eight unanswered points, 43-39, on charities by Harvey Carey.
Similar to the first, Castro drives fended off makes by Raymundo from the block as TNT remained in control, 47-44, at halftime.
The Texters made 19-of-40 from the field after two quarters (47.5 percent) while Ginebra was 18-of-37 (48.6 percent). TNT held a 7-0 margin in fast break points and outpaced their opponents in assists by a wide margin.
De Ocampo checked back in after the break but sat anew after getting his fourth personal foul at 10:42, defending Macklin on the block. Meanwhile, Chris Ellis scored Ginebra's first four as they leaked out on the break, taking a 52-49 lead on a Raymundo put-back.
Alaska's LA Tenorio dribbles past the defense of Meralco's Chris Ross. GMANews.TV
Vernon Macklin (L) throws one down on his defender Jerome Jordan. KC Cruz
Ginebra however took control of the game as an Urbiztondo triple and a Macklin alley-oop capped a 9-2 run, leaving a minute on the clock. TNT sued for time and Alapag scored charities off a drive, but Ginebra had the final say as Helterbrand sank a 16-footer to beat the quarter buzzer, 68-59.
Overall, TNT imposed their will on Ginebra, as thelatter to 13-of-39 from the field in the second half (33.3 percent), finishing with 31-of-76 overall (40.8 percent). In contrast, TNT shot 14-of-29 (48.3 percent) to finish 33-of-69 (47.8 percent) from the field.
Talk 'N Text beat Ginebra at their own game as well, leading in turnover points (16-10), fast break points (13-10) and assists (18-9).
Kerby Raymundo led his team with 17 points and seven rebounds. Vernon Macklin was held to 15 points and 17 rebounds on 5-of-14 shooting. Josh Urbiztondo had 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from deep, while JJ Helterbrand added 12 points.
LA Tenorio tallied eight points and two assists on 4-of-16 shooting, missing all seven tries from three-point distance. - RAF, GMA News
The scores:
TALK N' TEXT 85 - Castro 22, Alapag 17, De Ocampo 16, Jordan 14, Carey 6, Al-Hussaini 5, Reyes 4, Aban 1, Raymundo 0, Fonacier 0, Ferriols 0.
GINEBRA 79 - Raymundo 17, Macklin 15, Urbiztondo 15, Helterbrand 12, Tenorio 8, Ellis 6, Taha 2, Baracael 2, Maierhofer 2.
Quarters: 22-20, 47-44, 59-68, 85-79
