Talk ‘N Text barges into win column with rout of Petron

PBA IMAGE/Nuki Sabio

Talk ‘N Text found a way to put the fun back into its game – and that spelled bad news for the opposition.

Not even the erstwhile unbeaten Petron Blaze Boosters could stop a decimated but inspired Tropang Texters squad, which coasted to an easy 102-87 triumph on Wednesday night to barge into the win column in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

“Masyado kaming affected sa nakaraang pagkatalo namin sa finals. Masyado kaming seryoso sa first two games namin at hindi na kami nag-e-enjoy,” said Ranidel de Ocampo, who knocked in 23 points and a perfect 4-for-4 shooting clip from the three-point region.

Talk ‘N Text coach Chot Reyes agreed with De Ocampo’s observation and recently met with members of the team in an attempt to move past the painful setback the Tropang Texters had against B-MEG in their recent best-of-seven finals series in the Commissioner’s Cup.

“We lost the fun in our game. Big part was our dejection in our finals experience. I was the one very affected. We need to get closure over the last incident and the closure should come from us. We made a commitment to forget what happened because we need to get our minds off from fatigue and injuries our team is experiencing now,” said Reyes.

“We played with a lot more flow and enthusiasm and although we lost Ryan Reyes due to a knee injury at halftime, there’s no better game for us than to bring our wrath on Petron,” he added.

In one stretch in the third period, the Tropang Texters were able to outscore the Boosters, 26-2, over the last six minutes of the quarter.

That allowed Talk ‘N Text to break the game wide open as it led, 76-64, entering the final period.

The Tropang Texters even padded their lead to as high as 22, 95-73, inside the four-minute mark of the game and the show was over from there.

The scores:

Talk ‘N Text (102) – Harris 27, De Ocampo 23, Dillinger 15, Aguilar 10, Williams 9, Peek 7, Reyes 5, Fonacier 3, Alapag 3, Raymundo 0, Aban 0.

Petron (87) – Basden 19, Lutz 19, Cabagnot 15, Santos 12, Ildefonso 6, Lanete 4, Washington 4, Pena 4, Yeo 3, Miranda 1, Reyes 0.

Quarterscores: 30-21, 46-41, 76-64, 102-87

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