MANILA — Ranidel de Ocampo and Jimmy Alapag combined for five points at the finish to push the three-time defending champion Talk N Text Tropang Texters to a thrilling 121-117 victory in overtime over the hard-fighting Alaska Aces Saturday night in the PLDT myDSL-PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena. De Ocampo drilled a dagger three-pointer to give TNT a 119-115 lead with 35.6 seconds left in overtime. Alaska's starting center Sonny Thoss responded with an undergoal stab, cutting the lead to two. But Alapag buried a pair of charities as the Texters pulled off their seventh win in 10 games, tying the idle Rain or Shine at third to fourth spot in the standings. Kelly Williams played his best game yet after returning to the PBA, finishing with a conference-high 18 points on top of 10 rebounds in 38 minutes of action. Williams earlier took a seven-month medical leave of absence before rejoining the Texters this season. The comebacking Ryan Reyes, playing his first game for TNT this conference following an injury, added 17 points, including a clutch triple with 53.6 seconds that shattered the game's final deadlock, giving his team a 116-113 lead. De Ocampo and Jayson Castro chipped in with 16 points apiece, while Larry Fonacier and Sean Anthony contributed 14 and 13 markers, respectively. Danny Seigle chimed in with nine points. The Texters won despite being outrebounded and outmuscled in the paint by the bigger Alaska frontcourt of Thoss and Gabby Espinas. Thoss scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Aces. He also grabbed 12 rebounds. His layup in the last seconds of regulation forced the extra period. Espinas added 18 points and eight rebounds, while RJ Jazul also finished with 18 points. Cyrus Baguio contributed 17 points, while JVee Casio finished with 11. The Aces dropped to 4-7 win-loss card, settling for a triple tie for sixth to eighth place together with the Barako Bull and Meralco. Meralco 92, Air21 88: Gary David exploded for a conference-high 34 points, including seven of his team's last 13 points, as the Meralco Bolts survived a ferocious assault by the Air21 Express to win, 92-88, in overtime. Coming off a heart-breaking 83-82 loss to the pace-setting Barangay Ginebra Kings, the Bolts appeared headed for another heart-breaker as Air21's KG Canaleta suddenly waxed hot, draining three three-pointers in the last 1:14 of the game in regulation which forced the extra period. But unlike their game against Ginebra, the Bolts found a way to stop the streaking Express to snap their four-game losing skid and improve to 4-7. Playing his debut game for Meralco, former Petron veteran forward Danny Ildefonso also played a huge role for his new team, finishing with14 points on a near-perfect 6-of-7 from the field. He also had six rebounds and five assists in 29 minutes of action. The former two-time Most Valuable Player signed up with Meralco as a free agent after a falling out with Petron.
Ildefonso cried tears of joy after the match, saying his fine performance surprised even himself. “My prayers were answered. I was praying while playing,” said the veteran who spent 15 years with the San Miguel Beer/Petron Blaze franchise before signing with Meralco. Reynel Hugnatan added nine points and 16 rebounds for Meralco. Canaleta led Air21 with 32 points, while Asi Taulava added 15 points and 25 rebounds for Air 21, whose record dropped to 2-9. Games Sunday: Rain or Shine vs. GlobalPort and Barangay Ginebra vs. San Mig Coffee.
