PBA: Talk 'N Text squanders big lead, needs overtime to dispatch Barako Bull

(Updated 8:20pm) The defending champions Talk N' Text Tropang Texters led big early, but needed overtime to put away Barako Bull Energy Cola, 87-80, in the PLDT MyDSL 2014 PBA Philippine Cup, Friday, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Trailing by as much as 23 points, Barako Bull mounted a 19-7 run in the fourth to slash the lead to one, 64-63. With 29 seconds left, Willie Miller hit a corner triple to knot the game at 71-71 to force overtime. However Miller later let his squad down in the extra period, going 0-of-3 from the stripe after De Ocampo hit the go-ahead triple with a minute to play, 83-80.

The four-peat seeking TNT squad (5-2) has now won four of their last five games, after starting the conference at 1-2. Conversely, Barako Bull continues to spiral down, losing their last six after a 2-0 start.

Jayson Castro scored 23 points to go with six rebounds and nine assists. Ranidel De Ocampo added 17 points and 10 rebounds. Larry Fonacier and Kelly Williams gathered seven boards each, and scored 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Castro and De Ocampo scored 10 of their team's 16 points in the extra period.

After the game, Texters head coach Norman Black said that Barako Bull's defense gave his team problems down the stretch, saying, "I'm not sure that we found a solution for the zone defense, we just won the game, that's the most important thing. Our main problem was our inability to make our outside shots, and that nearly cost us the game."

Black also observed that tonight, similar to their previous game against Rain or Shine, his team's energy droped off significantly in the second half.

"I do consider that something that we need to fix, but a win is a win and we'll move on, because at the end of this conference nobody's going to remember this win," he said.

Starting point guard Jimmy Alapag sat out today's game after suffering a groin muscle strain, said Black. The veteran is expected to return for TNT's duel against Petron on December 28.

Jayson Castro and Ranidel De Ocampo combined for 12 points early on as the Texters built a 16-5 lead in the first quarter, pushing the ball off stops against weak transition defense from the Energy.

Barako Bull got their third basket of the game off a Willie Miller put-back at 4:26, but it would be their last bucket of the frame. Former Barako marquee player Danny Seigle anchored an erratic reserve unit for the Texters that finished the quarter up slightly, 18-17.

Keith Jensen buried a trey at the start of the second quarter, but Harvey Carey and Seigle dominated inside for an 11-5 run, creating a 29-12 cushion barely five minutes into the period. Barako Bull tried to slow down TNT with a zone midway through the period, though it proved fruitless. The Texters kept rolling, as a Castro fed Kelly Williams for a reverse alley-oop layup to highlight a 38-19 halftime tally.

Barako Bull's 19 points at halftime was a franchise-low mark, and ninth lowest output in a half in PBA history.


The Energy got their second wind after the break, and rallied behind transition makes by Willie Miller and Denok Miranda, to trail by as low as 13 points. However, triples from Fonacier kept Barako Bull at bay, 55-37. The Energy refused to go away though, forcing the Texters into long sequences on defense, while Miller scored five in a closing 7-2 run, 57-44, after three quarters.

Spurred by a Mick Pennisi triple, Barako Bull narrowed the gap to six points while holding TNT scoreless through four minutes in the fourth period, 57-51. Seven straight from the Texters, capped by a Castro triple, briefly interrupted Barako's run, but the Energy Cola scored from the line or in the paint, 64-63, highlighted by a JC Intal one-handed jam along the baseline.

With three minutes left, Fonacier broke through against Barako Bull's zone with a jumper from the left wing, and traded shots with fellow Ateneo Blue Eagle Intal to keep his squad ahead. TNT earned a breakthrough though when they secured an offensive rebound, which led to De Ocampo charities, 71-67.

Barako Bull called for time with a minute and change left, allowing Miller to drain a long two. After a stop on the other end, Pena kept alive an Energy miss, but failed to convert on the put-back. The saved ball luckily led to a Miller trey from the left corner that knotted the game, 71-71, with 29 seconds left. When Jai Reyes' three-pointer missed, Barako Bull regained possession with eight seconds on the clock, only for De Ocampo to intercepted a pass from Buenafe, which allowed the Texters to sue for time.

Inbounding the ball with 2.4 seconds left, two Barako Bull players smothered a driving Castro, tipping his shot and preventing him from winning the game in regulation.

Castro struck back in overtime, blowing by the defense on back-to-back trips, 78-74. But with two minutes to play, Pennisi answered back with consecutive treys to knot the game, 80-80. De Ocampo came up with his own trey to nudge the Texters ahead, 83-80.

With 45 seconds to go, Miller was fouled from outside the arc, but missed all his tries from the line. The Energy got the offensive board and gave Intal another crack from deep, but he missed as well. Nonoy Baclao finally hauled the carom down for TNT with 36 ticks left and was intentionally fouled, making two free throws to give them an 85-80 lead.

After their calling their last full timeout, Pennisi tried again from deep but missed, forcing the Energy to test Castro at the line. He converted both with 27 seconds remaining to finally give this win to his team.

TNT shot 34-of-99 (34.3 percent) for the game, including 8-of-34 (23.5 percent) from deep. Barako Bull was not much worse with a 29-of-92 (31.5 percent) field goal clip, including an 8-of-32 (25 percent) rate on outside shots.

Barako Bull had a 10-0 margin in turnover points.

Willie Miller led five Energy players in double figures with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while JC Intal registered 14 markers and 11 boards. Mick Pennisi chipped in 11 points, while Keith Jensen and Denok Miranda had 10 markers each and combined for 11 caroms. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

Talk 'N Text 87 - Castro 23, De Ocampo 17, Fonacier 13, Williams 10, Seigle 9, Carey 6, Baclao 4, Aban 3, Anthony 2, Celiz 0, Reyes 0, Poligrates 0

Barako Bull 80 - Miller 16, Intal 14, Pennisi 11, Jensen 10, Miranda 10, Pena 7, Buenafe 5, Maierhofer 3, Lastimosa 2, Isip 2, Wilson 0, Marcelo 0, Labagala 0

Quarter scoring: 18-7, 38-19, 57-44, 71-71,  87-80