Defending champions Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters and the gritty Rain or Shine Elasto Painters pounded out contrasting victories against separate opponents yesterday to forge Game 7s in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.
The Tropang Texters won a second straight game over Petron Blaze with a 111-108 decision while Rain or Shine took care of the Powerade Tigers in the second game, 112-98, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Talk ‘N Text is now in position towards becoming just the third team in the league to erase a 1-3 deficit and win a best-of-seven series.
Jeff Chan, meanwhile, scored 26 points and rookie Paul Lee added 15 points and seven assists as the Painters continued its drive for a long-awaited finals stint.
Reigning MVP Jimmy Alapag towed the defending champions against the Boosters as he exploded for 29 points and 10 assists. He had 10 of those points in the final period.
Punctuating his exceptional performance was his perfect 10-of-10 performance from the free-throw stripe including four freebies in the final minute that helped seal the victory for the Texters.
Talk ‘N Text’s win was not all about offense as they also buckled down on defense, with Rich Alvarez coming up with a steal, and then hassled Petron rookie Chris Lutz into dribbling the ball of his foot for a turnover with 26.5 seconds remaining and the Texters ahead, 108-104.
The Texters led by as many as nine on two occassions in the final quarter but the Boosters refused to back down and staged a comeback, much as they have done so in the series which they once led, 3-1.
For a while, it seemed as if Petron would clinch the series yesterday as a turnaround jumper by Danny Ildefonso, three free-throws by Alex Cabagnot and a fastbreak layup by Denok Miranda put them on top, 99-97, with 4:38 remaining.
But Ranidel de Ocampo, who scored 21 markers, came up big with two free-throws and a tip-in while Ali Peek made a putback for a 103-99 Talk ‘N Text lead.
Petron once again came close with a three-point play by Danny Ildefonso but Larry Fonacier answered right back for the Texters with a booming trey from the top of the key with 1:09 left.
Ildefonso, the former two-time MVP, put in two more points to slice the deficit down to two, but once again, the Texters had an answer with two freethrows by Alapag.
Alvarez forced Lutz to a turnover and the game was handily secured later on with more freethrows from Alapag and Peek.
This Wednesday’s game at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay will mark just the third time in PBA history that both Final Four series have gone on to a decider.