Talk N Text
and San Mig Coffee remained on top of the standings after they beat separate
foes in the 2012 PBA Philippine Cup yesterday.
The San Mig
Coffee Mixers relied on their hot shooting to overwhelm an ice cold Barako Bull
side. Backcourt buddies James Yap and PJ Simon combined for 42 points and 16
rebounds for SMC, which shot 51% from the field. Rafi Reavis and JC Intal
anchored the interior for the Mixers with 12 and 11 points respectively.
The Energy
Colas shot just 38% from the floor, and they also got outplayed by SMC’s point guards,
Jonas Villanueva and Mark Barroca, both of whom combined for 10 assists. Ronald
Tubid and Leo Najorda were the only bright spots for Barako Bull with 17 and 10
markers respectively.
In the other
game, the Talk N Text Tropang Texters reasserted their mastery over sister squad
Meralco, 109-98. Despite Sol Mercado exploding for 28 points and Reynel
Hugnatan registering a double-double (17 points and 10 ribbies), the Texters
were able to pull out the win. This was mainly due to a big fourth quarter,
where TNT tossed in 30 markers.
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| Cliff Hodge gets his shot snuffed out by TNT's Harvey Carey. |
Six Texters finished
in double digits, led by Jayson Castro’s 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists,
while Kelly Williams had 19 points and 6 boards. The other players who scored
10 or more for coach Norman Black were Ryan Reyes, Ranidel De Ocampo, Jared
Dillinger, and Larry Fonacier.
Both teams
shot well from the field, but TNT’s 56% clip was just too much for Meralco,
which fell to solo fourth in the standings.
Talk N Text is
still number one with an 8-2 record, while San Mig Coffee is just a game behind
them at 7-2.
Game Recaps:
SAN MIG COFFEE MIXERS over BARAKO
BULL ENERGY COLAS, 93-73
James Yap
scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the piping hot San Mig
Coffee to its fifth straight win at the expense of Barako Bull, 93-73, Friday
at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Peter June
Simon added 20 points and seven rebounds for the rampaging Mixers, who improved
their win-loss record to 7-2, moving into a tie for first place with the Talk
‘N Text squad seeing action later in the evening.
Barako Bull,
in disarray with the departure of former coach Junel Baculi and a knee injury
to main man Enrico Villanueva, kept in step with San Mig Coffee in the first
half to tie the game at 36-all.
With their
top guns ablaze, the Mixers clamped down on Barako Bull, whom they defeated by
just a single point in their first meeting on a game-saving swipe by Rafi
Reavis.
“We played
our worst defensive game against Barako in our first meeting. We won by a skin
of our teeth with Rafi knocking the ball out of the rim,” said San Mig Coffee
coach Tim Cone.
After Doug
Kramer scored on a putback that gave Barako Bull its last taste of the lead at
55-54, San Mig Coffee held the Energy Colas without a field goal in the last
four minutes.
Yap, who
scored just four points before the break, exploded for 18 points in the second
half. With the two-time Most Valuable Player leading the charge, San Mig Coffee
broke loose for 31 third quarter points to take a 67-57 lead at the end of the
period.
The Energy
Colas were still in striking distance early in the fourth quarter, 69-63,
before back-to-back three-pointers from Simon and Yap put the game away for the
Mixers.
Those
started a dizzying 14-0 run that gave the Mixers their biggest lead, 83-63,
with still 5:32 remaining in the game.
The loss
dropped Barako Bull’s record to 3-7.
SMC 93 – Yap 22, Simon 20, Reavis 12,
Intal 11, Devance 7, Villanueva 5, Barroca 4, Gonzales 4, De Ocampo 4, Ramos 2,
Ponferrada 2, Pacana 0, Pingris 0.
BAR 73 – Tubid 17, Najorda 10, Yap 9,
Seigle 9, Anthony 8, Alvarez 6, Kramer 6, Ballesteros 4, Pennisi 4, Co 0,
Marcelo 0, Cervantes 0.
QS: 10-15, 36-36, 67-57, 93-73
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| James Yap continues to sizzle for the Mixers. |
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| Roger Yap goes up against former teammate Jonas Villanueva. |
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| Joe Devance gets a high five from James Yap as the Mixers stay near the top of the heap. |
TALK N TEXT TROPANG TEXTERS
over MERALCO BOLTS, 109-98
With its
offense in high gear, Talk ‘N Text ripped Meralco, 109-98, Friday night at the
Ynares Center to notch its eighth win of the PBA Philippine Cup.
“Offense is
good today,” said Talk ‘N Text coach Norman Black. “We created opportunities
finding the gaps. This is really a good game offensive game for us, probably
the best for the year.”
Six players
finished in double figures for the Tropang Texters led by Jayson Castro, who
unloaded 23 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Kelly
Williams added 19 points and six rebounds, Ranidel de Ocampo made all but one
attempt from the field for 16 points, while Ryan Reyes had 12 points and eight
rebounds.
Meralco
stayed within striking distance for most of the game, and were down by only
three points, 88-85, early in the fourth quarter. But a Castro three-pointer
kicked off an 11-4 run capped by a Larry Fonacier drive to put the game away
for the Tropang Texters.
With the
win, Talk ‘N Text stayed in first place in the standings with an 8-2 win-loss
record.
The loss was
the fourth in nine games for the Bolts, who still stayed on fourth spot. The
defeat also continued Meralco’s losing streak at the venue, where the Bolts
have lost their past six games.
“I really
don’t have positive vibes playing in this venue,” said Meralco coach Ryan
Gregorio, who said he has had negative feelings about Ynares Center since his
former player at Purefoods, Eugene Tejada, suffered a career-ending injury
there.
TNT 109 – Castro 23, Williams 19, De
Ocampo 16, Reyes 12, Dillinger 11, Fonacier 10, Carey 9, Peek 8, Alapag 1,
Raymundo 0, Gamalinda 0, Aban 0, Alvarez 0.
MER 98 – Mercado 28, Hugnatan 17, Hodge
14, Reyes 14, Salvacion 9, Borboran 6, Cardona 4, Ross 3, Buenafe 3, Nabong 0,
Bulawan 0.
QS: 27-25, 50-46, 79-76, 109-98
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| Jimmy Alapag tries to whip a pass behind Meralco's Jay-R Reyes. |
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| Former teammates Harvey Carey and Mac Cardona share a light moment before entering the hardcourt. |
Source: Unless otherwise specified, game
recaps were compressed and compiled from InterAKTV. (Writing credit to Rey
Joble.)
Images: All images are from InterAKTV.
(Photo credit to Paolo Papa)
