PBA: Kings reign over Texters

Barangay Ginebra beat Talk `N Text right on its own game, outscoring the defending champion, 105-82, in a big Wednesday night win in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. A huge scoring blitzkrieg to open the fourth quarter allowed the Kings to break the game open and take the fight out of the Tropang Texters.

Protecting a slim four-point lead entering the fourth, the Kings went on a 22-4 run for a 96-74 edge halfway into the period. The Tropang Texters, the league’s top-scoring team, were never able to recover from there. JC Intal again showed the way for Ginebra with 19 points and eight rebounds, while providing the highlight reel of the game: a crowd-friendly 360 degree slam dunk inside the final two minutes and the outcome of the game no longer in doubt. The win allowed the Kings to tie their victims at 10-6, and kept their slim hopes of notching an outright berth into the semifinals alive. With the Kings way ahead, 97-81, coach Jong Uichico sent in star player Mark Caguioa, who has been reactivated from the injury list Tuesday afternoon. The high-scoring guard immediately made his presence felt by pumping in eight points, four of them off perfect dish-offs by Intal and Eric Menk, including the final basket that gave Ginebra its biggest lead of the game. Ronald Tubid finished with 18 points for the Kings, who also got 12 and 10 markers from Rico Villanueva and Menk, respectively. Jimmy Alapag scored 17 points to pace Talk `N Text, which battled its way back from as much as a 10-point deficit in the third period to make it a four-point game going into the final 12 minutes. Jason Castro added 15 for the Tropang Texters, while Harvey Carey had 12 and Ranidel De Ocampo made 11 before fouling out with six minutes to go. A big letdown for the team was scoring leader Mac Cardona. Averaging 21.8 points per outing, the former La Salle stalwart was held to just seven markers as a shower of boos from the pro-Ginebra crowd greeted him every time he touched the ball. – GMANews.TV