Texters seek playoff spot, Painters fight for survival

CEBU, Philippines - The Talk 'N Txt Tropang Texters and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters both face an important task when they go up against each other in the PBA Commissioner's Cup Cebu Road Tour today at the Hoops Dome in Brgy. Gun-ob, Lapu-Lapu City.

Showtime is set at 6:45 pm.

The Tropang Texters take a second shot at formalizing their entry into the playoffs, while the Elasto Painters play a third straight do-or-die game.

The E- Painters of coach Yeng Guiao kept their flickering hopes alive with a 101-95 upset of B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados last Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Rain or Shine, thus, improved its win-loss record to 3-5 in a tie with Petron Blaze Boosters and Meralco Bolts. Meralco was still playing against Air 21 Express (3-4) as of this writing last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

With a tough mission to bear, Guiao is expected to squeeze the most from their import Duke Crews along with locals Jeff Chan, Ryan Araña, Gabe Norwood, Ronjay Buenafe, rookie Paul Lee and Cebuano JR ‘Baby Shaq’ Quiñahan, who formely played with the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers during his collegiate days.

The Texters of coach Chot Reyes, on the other hand, will try to get hold of the No.1 spot with a 5-2 record.

Bannered by the hardworking reinforcement Donell Harvey, the Texters will also draw firepower from the likes of All-Filipino Cup Finals MVP Jimmy Alapag, Jason Castro, Jared Dillinger, Ranidel de Ocampo and Japeth Aguilar.

Meanwhile, the organizers of the highly-anticipated PBA out-of-town match announced that ringside tickets have been sold out. Tickets are still available though for the general admission (P200), upper box (P600) and lower box (P1, 000). (FREEMAN)