Game on Monday: (Araneta Coliseum)

6:45 p.m. – Powerade vs. Talk ‘N Text


FROM the way it came out and played last night, Talk ‘N Text didn’t look like a team that only had a day’s rest in between the final game of its grueling semi-finals series and the opening match of the best-of-seven championships against Powerade.

The defending champion were allowed to play the kind of game it loves by a ball club that perhaps still had a hangover for making an unexpected appearance in the Finals, as Talk ‘N Text bamboozled the JV Casio-less Powerade, 116-100, in Game One of their PBA Philippine Cup title showdown last night in Digos City in Davao del Sur.

The Tropang Texters scored 38 first-quarter points and immediately erected a commanding 17-point bubble, and the closest the Tigers could come to was at 74-67 in the third quarter and 107-98 in the fourth on a triple by Marcio Lassiter.

Talk ‘N Text led by as high as 95-75 on a lay-up by Ali Peek.


Powerade, advancing to the Finals for the first time after 12 seasons, missed the services of its No. 1 Draft pick because of a hamstring injury. Casio suited up, but was not fielded.

It was a frustrating night, too, for Gary David. He failed to get into a scoring rhythm in the first half with only seven points, committed his fourth personal foul with 6:48 in the third period, and finished with only 19 points. He made his first field goal at the 7:27 mark of the second quarter.

Jayson Castro came off the bench to score 23 points on top of eight rebounds and six assists.

“We were just hoping that we still have the legs and the stamina against Powerade,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes. “But if JV Casio were there, it could have been a different ball game. Now we have to be prepared for Powerade in Game Two. We just can’t be satisfied with a 1-0 lead.”

Meantime, Arwind Santos of Petron and David are expected to go through a tight battle for the Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award.

Santos leads the way once more in statistical points (SPs), where he averages 36.52. He is the No. 1 rebounder with an 11.8 norm, and runs third in scoring with an average output of 17.0.

David is again the scoring champion (24.6 ppg) and is the No. 2 in terms of average SPs with 33.65. His teammate at Powerade, Marcio Lassiter, is running third in average SPs (31.48 SPs) with James Yap of B-Meg at fourth spot (31.38). Alex Cabagnot of Petron, the No. 1 player in assists (6.9 per game) is at fifth with an average SP of 30.74.


The scores:


Talk ‘N Text (116) – Castro 23, Reyes 15, Dillinger 15, Fonacier 14, De Ocampo 14, Peek 13, Alapag 9, Aguilar 6, Carey 4, Williams 3, Gamalinda 0, Raymundo 0.

Powerade (100) – Anthony 23, David 19, Lassiter 19, L ingganay 13, Kramer 12, Cruz 4, Antonio 3, Vanlandingham 3, Adducul 2, Crisano 2, Allera 0.

Quarterscores : 38-21;  68-52;  96-81; 116-100.