PBA: Late turnover eliminates Talk 'N Text as Ginebra advances to playoff

RENEE FOPALAN, GMA News July 18, 2012 9:36pm


Mark Caguioa (right) bounced back from a conference-low outing to drop 18 points on the heads of Talk 'N Text. Nuki Sabio

(Updated 9:58pm) Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters import Paul Harris stepped out of bounds on what could have been the last possession of the game, turning the ball over, and handing the Barangay Ginebra Kings the win, 73-71, Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, forging a playoff between sister teams for the other vacant Finals spot in the PBA Governors' Cup.

The B-MEG Llamados had earlier lost to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, with the latter advancing directly to the championship round. By winning, Ginebra eliminates Talk 'N Text, and sets up a loser-go-home game on Friday between them and B-MEG, both of which are owned by the San Miguel Corporation.



An early Cedric Bozeman dunk fired up the Ginebra side. Nuki Sabio

Harris had earlier looked like a hero, getting his side to within two, 73-71, with 39.9 seconds left in the game. Then on the next possession, TNT forced a 24-second violation, which gave them the ball back and a chance to win the game or force overtime, but off a timeout, Harris made a crucial mistake that doomed his side.

"Magandang biyaya napagkaloob sa amin pero di kami kontento. We're content with what we have but we're not content of what we can become," said Ginebra head coach Siot Tangquincen.

Ginebra raced out to a 12-7 lead in the first quarter before the Texters went on a 10-5 run to even it up at 17-all after back-to-back threes by Ryan Reyes. On the ensuing play, Cedric Bozeman scored on a slam, posterizing Ali Peek before Caguioa hit a three to settle the first quarter score at 27-21.

In the second Paul Harris led the Texters to a comeback, stringing together eight points to tie the game at 38-all, but the Gin Kings would hold on to the lead at the half, 42-40.

The third quarter finally saw Talk n' Text surge ahead via a Jayson Castro layup, 52-50, before Mike Cortez completed a four-point play to snatch back the lead, 54-52. Bozeman and Rico Maierhoffer then converted on drives into the lane to go up 58-54.

Free throws by Talk n' Text kept them close, but a Maierhofer lay-in was enough to keep Ginebra on top at the end of the period, 61-59.

Paul Harris finally put the Texters ahead, 68-66, in the middle of the final period.The Kings fought to regain the lead, as Kerby Raymundo hit a crucial three to grab a four point lead with a little more than two minutes left, 73-69.



Jayson Castro (center) and the rest of TNT were frustrated by the Ginebra defense. Nuki Sabio

Several fruitless possessions finally boiled down to Harris converting with 39.9 seconds remaining to trim the lead down to two, 73-71. Talk 'N Text then forced Ginebra into a 24-second shot clock violation, giving the Tropang Texters 15.3 seconds to tie or win the game.

ThTexters had Harris driving down the baseline, but before he could pass the ball to a wide-open Alapag in the three-point area, the import stepped on the line, giving the Kings the ball with 3.9 seconds remaining. The Kings were successful with the inbound, as Willy Wilson threw the ball into the air as the time expired.

Mark Caguoa posted 18 points, eight rebounds and two assists to lead Ginebra to victory, while power forward Kerby Raymundo chimed in 15 more points. Import Cedric Bozeman tallied a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double, while Jayjay Helterbrand came off the bench to quarterback his side with seven dimes.

Talk 'N Text drew a game-high 25 points from Paul Harris, 11 coming from the foul line, plus 18 rebounds, but no other Tropang Texter finished in double digits against the Kings' defense. Ryan Reyes and Ranidel de Ocampo each tallied eight points, while three TNT players finished with seven apiece.

The game also marked Chot Reyes' final game as the Talk n' Text head coach.The multi-titled coach will be replaced by Ateneo Blue Eagles' mentor Norman Black next season, as Reyes departs to take on the full-time role of head coach of the Smart Gilas national team. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

Barangay
Ginebra 73 - Caguioa 18, Raymundo 15, Bozeman 14, Cortez 11, Maierhofer 4, Mamaril 4, Hatfield 4, W. Wilson 2, Villanueva 1, Ababou 0, Helterbrand 0.

Talk 'N Text 71 - Harris 25, Reyes 8, De Ocampo 8, Castro 7, Alapag 7, Peek 7, Williams 3, Aguilar 2, Fonacier 2, Carey 2, Aban 0.

Quarter scoring: 27-21, 42-40, 61-59, 73-71

Source: Gmanetwork.com