PBA FINALS GAME 4

Texters even series versus Llamados

A frustrated B-MEG Llamados head coach Tim Cone didn't even stick around to finish this rout. 

The Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters hit the century mark, and that was enough for the victory, 100-85, in game four of the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals, leaving both sides as a result with two wins each in the series, Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.

Talk 'N Text was up by 13 at the dawn of the fourth quarter, 73-60, and the backcourt of Jayson Castro and Larry Fonacier maintained their 13 point advantage, until Fonacier nailed a triple that made it swelled it to 83-67.

The All-Filipino Cup Finals MVP and Jared Dillinger then combined for a 6-2 run that pegged the score at 89-71, and after an airball triple by James Yap, Cone essentially threw in the towel, sitting Yap, Pingris, and Best Import of the Conference Denzel Bowles, with 4:51 to play.

But Cone's actions actually sparked a mini-run by B-MEG as Peter June Simon completed an and-one play and Josh Urbiztondo canned a triple, slicing the deficit to 12. In response, Fonacier quashed the rally with a second long bomb, 92-77, 2:44 left, essentially clinching the game.

Things still managed to stay interesting however, as rookie Pamboy Raymundo and Urbiztondo exchanged elbows. Making matters worse was Joe Devance tossing the ball at Raymundo's face, which led to Raymundo throwing a punch at Devance's back, as both sides erupted in anger.

The result of the mini-skirmish was technicals on Raymundo and Urbiztondo, a Flagrant 2 foul on Devance, and a Flagrant 1 foul on Raymundo, leading to the latter two players getting sent to the showers early.

Cone then joined them a few more plays later. After the two sides stepped up to attempt their technical free throws, a referee inadvertently sent Cone flying backwards, just as Urbiztondo nailed another triple to arrive at the final score, 100-85. Once the shock wore off, Cone then crossed the floor to head to the locker, with both sides still playing, symbolically closing out the game.

The Llamados mentor later said that he didn’t want to do anything worse after what had happened and that he was upset that the referee had not bothered to help him up or say sorry.

Early on, B-MEG seemed capable of matching TNT point-for-point, as only a Ryan Reyes buzzer-beating triple gave his side a slim lead after 12 minutes, 25-24. The Texters kept pouring it on however, as a 10-2 run to start the second made it a nine-point game, 35-26.

Three straight scores by Ranidel De Ocampo gave his side a double-digit lead, 43-31, which they maintained at 47-35 headed into the break. Then when the two sides resumed play, TNT kept pouring on the pressure with a 7-1 blast, making it 54-36.

B-MEG had one last surge late in the third, as the Llamados managed 10 unanswered, a run that included five by Bowles and was capped by a James Yap trey at the 2:50 mark, 67-58, but Jayson Castro answered back with twin scores, followed by a Donnell Harvey basket, swinging momentum back to their side.

Jared Dillinger converted the first basket of the game, a triple, and fittingly wound up tied for most points in the game, finishing with 18, in addition to five rebounds and four assists.

Said TNT head coach Chot Reyes after the game, "The important factor today was Jared Dillinger, finally making some lay-ups and getting to the basket to score some points."

Fonacier matched Dillinger's output, converting 3-of-4 triples, while Jayson Castro poured in 15 on 6-of-9 shooting.

Donnell Harvey, who finished second in the Best Import of the Conference tilt, pumped in 14 points, 15 rebounds and three swipes.

B-MEG got 17 from Denzel Bowles and Joe Devance, with Bowles adding in nine rebounds and six assists as well. However, James Yap struggled, making just 3-of-16 attempts, while Peter June Simon managed just five markers the entire game.

Talk 'N Text also converted 18 B-MEG turnovers into 21 turnover points, and shot a higher clip from three-point territory, 41.2 percent versus 29.6 percent.

Game five is set for Wednesday, still at the Araneta Colliseum.


The scores:
TNT 100 - Dillinger 18, Fonacier 18, Castro 15, Harvey 14, Alapag 12, De Ocampo 10, Reyes 9, Carey 4, Raymundo 0, Gamalinda 0, Williams 0, Alvarez 0, Lao 0, Peek 0.
BMEG 85 - Bowles 17, Devance 17, Urbiztondo 15, Yap 14, Intal 8, Simon 5, Pingris 4, Reavis 4, Barroca 1, Acuna 0, Gaco 0, Burtscher 0, Villanueva 0, De Ocampo 0.
Quarter scoring: 25-24, 47-35, 73-60, 100-85

Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/256584/sports/basketball/pba-texters-even-series-versus-llamados

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