Ranidel burns old team Air21, hits game winner

MANILA, Philippines - Ranidel de Ocampo tallied 18 points and 16 rebounds and hit the winning basket at the buzzer to lead the Talk N Text Tropang Texters to a 109-108 victory over the Air21 Express on the final day of the KFC Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup elimination round Thursday at the Araneta Coliseum. With 2.1 seconds left on the clock, De Ocampo, who played for Air21 his whole career before he was sent to Talk N Text last December 16, took the inbound pass from Jason Castro, dribbled inside the three-point line and launched the game-winner as the Tropang Texters finished the elimination round with an 11-7 record. Thanks to Ginebra's victory over Rain or Shine in the second game, Talk N Text took the no.2 seed and an outright appearance in the semifinals. Alaska, which finished with a league-best 12-6 record, is also safely through the final four. "We practiced the exact play yesterday (Wednesday), with the other team leading by two and the time down to the last two seconds. So we knew exactly what to do," Chot Reyes said. "It was a testament to Ranidel for making the shot, and also a testament to Jason (Castro) for making the good inbounds pass," the winning coach added. Jimmy Alapag led six TNT players in double figures with 23 points. Yancy de Ocampo, Ranidel's older brother, chipped in 14 and nine rebounds and Jason Castro 12, nine and seven assists. Mark Cardona was the only nonstarter in double-digit points with 16. Gary David led Air21 with 23 points. Don Allado, the guy Air21 took in De Ocampo's place, finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks. Air21, which had a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter, fell to 8-10 and joined Purefoods and Coca-Cola in the wild-card stage. - GMANews.TV