Texters, Painters face tough foes

Games Wednesday:
Araneta Coliseum
5:30 p.m.- Alaska vs. Rain or Shine
7:45 p.m.- Meralco vs. Talk ‘N Text

THE TALK ‘N TEXT Tropang Texters and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters shoot for semifinal berths against separate teams today in the 36th PBA Governors’ Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Painters play the Alaska Aces in the first game, while the former leaders Texters collide with sister team Meralco Bolts in the main tiff.

Sporting identical 4-2 (win-loss) records, the Painters, the Texters and the Barangay Ginebra Kings are tied for the second to fourth spots, trailing closely the Petron Blaze Boosters, who are already assured of a semis spot after collecting five wins after seven games.

The Aces and the Bolts are expected to wage a tough battle as they are desperately seeking victories that would brighten their chances of moving to the next round.

The Aces and the Bolts share fifth and sixth places with similar 3-3 slates.

The Bolts and the Texters are coming off painful defeats.

After starting the tournament with four straight wins, the Texters fell on a mini slump as they have lost two of their last three games, including a sorry 96-101 defeat to the Boosters.

The loss was extra painful for the Texters as they failed to overcome a Petron squad that played without an import.

The Bolts also went through a heartbreaker of a loss after they squandered a six-point lead in the last 16 seconds of regulation to absorb a 113-116 overtime defeat against the Painters.

Meralco actually erased a huge 20-point third-quarter deficit but saw their gallant comeback go to naught after collapsing the final 15 seconds of the regulation period.

The Aces were triumphant, 78-70, over the Powerade Tigers in their last outing./EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA