Pennisi provides spark as San Miguel drubs Talk 'N Text

Published October 28, 2009 10:18pm

Mick Pennisi provided the spark and nailed the insurance basket in San Miguel Beerâ€™s 100-90 drubbing of Talk `N Text Wednesday night in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup. The 6-foot-10 many-time national team member scored 15 points, including nine in the opening half when he led the Beermen zoom to a as many as a 25-point lead.

Talk 'N Text's Nic Belasco, center, finds himself trapped by the defense put up by San Miguel's Dorian PeÃ±a and Bonbon Custodio. Jeff Venancio

And just as the Tropang Texters rallied back in the stretch, Pennisi was again there to bail his team out of trouble, draining a dagger three-pointer to push San Miguel on safer grounds (98-90) with 42 seconds remaining in the main game of a weekday doubleheader at the Big Dome. â€œWe still have a lot of work to do," admitted the San Miguel center. â€œBut we didnâ€™t lose our composure there. We just stuck to the game plan." The Beermen now even their record at 2-2 after losing their first two games in the All-Filipino meet. The Tropang Texters suffered their first loss after three straight wins, relegating them to a tie for second place along with Barangay Ginebra. Their loss also left idle Alaska as the only unbeaten team in the tournament at 4-0. Arwind Santos and Dondon Hontiveros had 17 each to pace the Beermen, who enjoyed a 47-22 spread midway in the second period behind Pennisiâ€™s hot hands.

San Miguel 100 - Santos 17, Hontiveros 17, Pennisi 15, Seigle 11, Custodio 9, Cortez 9, Villanueva 7, Pena 6, Tugade 5, Miranda 2, Racela 2, Eman 0. Talk N' Text 90 - Alapag 22, Castro 20, Cardona 16, Peek 13, De Ocampo Y. 8, De Ocampo R. 4, Carey 4, Belasco 2, Dillinger 1, Ritualo 0. Quarter scores: 26-14, 55-38, 77-61, 100-90.

But the Texters wouldnâ€™t easily go down without a fight in a match pitting the two reigning conference champions in the league. With Jason Castro and Mack Cardona leading the way, Talk â€˜N Text made its way back in the final minutes of the game coming to as close as 93-89 on a completed steal by Castro. But Cardona could only hit one of three free throws given him when he was hacked by Hontiveros while attempting from three-point range, 95-90, before Pennisi nailed the big trey that put the fight out of the Tropang Texters. Back-to-back misses from three-point range by Ranidel de Ocampo and Jimmy Alapag in the final 22 seconds doomed Talk `N Text for good. Alapag showed the way for Talk â€˜N Text with 22 points, followed by Castro (20) and Cardona (16). â€“ GMANews.TV

Tags: pbaphilippinecup, sanmiguelbeermen, mickpennisi, arwindsantos, dondonhontiveros