Texters forge deciding game

CEBU, Philippines - The Talk 'N Txt Tropang Texters wiped away an early 16-point deficit and then pounded out the B-Meg Llamados in the final period to pull off a 92-82 win and forge a deciding match in the best-of-seven PBA Commissioner's finals last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Import Harvey Donnell wasn't that productive on the offensive end but that did not matter as spunky playmaker Jayson Castro, Ryan Reyes and Ranidel de Campo exploded bigtime as the Talk 'N Txt locked up the series at three games apiece that set up the stage for an all-out way in Game 7 set tomorrow night at the Big Dome.

Castro tallied 14 of his 25 points in the last quarter where they beat the Llamados to the pulp, while Reyes scored nine straight points in a fiery uprising that turned the tide of the match in their favor just in time for the halftime break.

Closing out the series looked bright for the Llamados after they posted a 36-21 advantage with just three minutes gone by in the second canto, but Reyes instigated a 14-3 run to pull TNT within striking range, 35-41.

B-Meg regained a 45-38 edge, but the Texters replied with another 12-3 blitz capped by Castro's buzzer-beating triple that put them ahead by two at the intermission, 50-38.

The Llamados could only tie the count at 50-all as the Texters made a 11-2 rally to take full control of the game, 61-52.

B-Meg struck back to come within just a hairline, 67-66, but thet proved to their last gasp of breath as the Texters dropped a devastating 12-0 bomb to blow away the Llamados, 79-66, with still 5:53 left in the contest.

The red-shot Castro then delivered the crushing blows on B-Meg, including a 3-pointer and back-to-back layups that sealed the deal for Talk 'N Txt.

Denzel Bowles had 33 points and James Yap added 27 points, but got no sufficient support from the rest of their teammates who were accounted for only 22 points of their total output. - THE FREEMAN