Philippine Cup runner-up Alaska showed signs of rust in their PBA Fiesta Cup debut and Talk 'N Text quickly capitalized, hammering out a 100-92 win Wednesday night at the Astrodome in Pasay City.
The Tropang Texters, with import Shawn Daniels imposing his presence at both ends of the court, evened their record to 2-2 to place fifth in the 10-team standings. Daniels scored 25 points on 12-of-16 shooting and pulled down 15 rebounds while getting a lot of help from Talk 'N Text’s talented local crew led by Mac-Mac Cardona’s 20 points. Harvey Carey added 16 points and Ranidel de Ocampo poured in 15 markers and collared six rebounds for the Texters.
Talk 'N Text's Jimmy Alapag chases the ball while Alaska's Larry Fonacier and import Diamon Simpson look on during their game in the PBA Fiesta Cup Wednseday at the Astrodome. GMANews.TV
The same can’t be said of the Aces, who appeared soft and off-beat in their opening game in the import-laden tournament. Good thing reinforcement Diamon Simpson sparkled in his PBA debut. Simpson poured in game-highs of 36 points and 25 rebounds to register the first 30-20 performance coming from an import since Ginebra’s Chris Porter tallied 31 and 24 in the 2005-06 Fiesta Conference. "Diamon is a monster," said coach Tim Cone of his young reinforcement. "He can play. He can put it on the floor, he’s a dynamite on the offensive boards. There are very little things that he can’t do. Now if we can just harness his skill with the team." "Am I disappointed? Yes. But am I discouraged. No." Simpson shot 12-of-22 from the field and made 12 of his 19 attempts from the free-throw line. Of his total rebounds, 13 came from the offensive end. Unfortunately, the rest of the Aces weren’t up to the task.
Alaska import Diamon Simpson challenges the defense of Talk 'N Text's Harvey Carey, left, and reinforcement Shawn Daniels during their game against in the PBA Fiesta Cup Wednesday at the Astrodome. GMANews.TV
LA Tenorio and Sonny Thoss were held scoreless in the first half while Willie Miller was limited to only three points in the first two quarters, allowing Talk 'N Text to surge ahead. After taking a 48-36 halftime lead, the Texters stretched it to 74-48 with 4:27 left in the third period. Joe Devance led all Alaska locals with 14 points, Miller went on to finish with 12 while Tony De La Cruz wound up with 11. A big disappointment for the Aces was big man Samiguel Eman who finished with five points on 2-of-6 shooting while seeing action for 22 minutes.
– GMANews.TV Scores: Talk ‘N Text 100 – Daniels 25, Cardona 20, Carey 16, De Ocampo 15, Alapag 10, Dillinger 9, Yee 2, Aban 2, Belasco 1, Castro 0, Quinahan 0. Alaska 92 – Simpson 36, De Vance 14, Miller 12, Dela Cruz 11, Eman 5, Fonacier 5, Hugnatan 3, Tenorio 2, Thoss 2, Cablay 2. Quarter scores: 25-12, 48-36, 78-57, 100-92.
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