The Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters bagged their third straight All-Filipino crown in convincing fashion by burying the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 105-82, in Game 4 of the 38th PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven finals last night at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Texters swept the series, 4-0, scoring only the league’s fourth sweep in the finals.
And in copping their sixth title in franchise history, the Texters became the first team in three decades to win three straight All-Filipino crown.
Winning the title was also extra sweet for Talk N Text head coach Norman Black, who once again hoisted a championship crown right in his first conference since returning to the pro-league after leading the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles to five straight titles in the UAAP.
Black now has 11 PBA titles under his belt.
On the other hand, Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao was again denied of his first All-Filipino crown.
Till the very end, Talk N Text displayed great teamwork as they piled up a conference-high 34 assists resulting in six Texters scoring in double figures led by Ranidel De Ocampo, who finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds and was five-for-seven from the three-point land.
De Ocampon went on to win the Finals MVP award.
Kelly Williams and Ali Peek added 15 points each, Jared Dellinger contributed 14, while Larry Fonacier and Jimmy Alapag chipped in 13 and 10, respectively.
Typifying their deep talent, the Texters had an easy time dispatching despite the measly six-point performance of Jayson Castro who won the Best Player of the Conference award before last night’s game.
Talk N Text led by double digits in most part of the first half but Rain or Shine rallied within two, 63-65 in the third.
However, the Texters did not crumble as they’ve shown in the first three games of the series, restoring order by taking a 70-63 lead, entering the final quarter.
The lead ballooned to as many as 22 points in the fourth as the hapless Painters faded in the face of the Texters’ searing offensive attack.
Larry Rodriguez paced the Painters with 16 points, while Jervy Cruz and Ryan Araña had 13 and 11, respectively.
BOX SCORES
TALK N’ TEXT (105) – De Ocampo 19, Williams 15, Peek 15, Dillinger 14, Fonacier 13, Alapag 10, Castro 6, Reyes 5, Carey 4, Gamalinda 2, Aban 2, Raymundo 0, Alvarez 0, Ferriols 0.
RAIN OR SHINE (82) – Rodriguez 16, Cruz 13, Arana 11, Chan 9, Lee 7, Belga 7, Quinahan 6, Tang 5, Tiu 4, Norwood 4, Matias 0, Ibanes 0.QUARTERSCORES: 29-15, 53-46, 70-63, 105-82.