MANILA — Unheralded Yousef Taha became the unlikely hero of the Purefoods Star Hotshots, nailing crucial baskets and making brilliant defensive plays in the endgame to power the Hotshots to a nail-biting 77-74 win over the Meralco Bolts in the PBA Philippine Cup road game in Binan, Laguna, Sunday night. A perennial benchwarmer in several PBA teams that he joined in, Taha suddenly found himself the center of attention on Sunday night, scoring a career-high 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, grabbing nine rebounds, and finishing with three assists and two blocks to power Purefoods to its third straight win and fourth overall in seven outings. After a poor start, the Hotshots are now at solo sixth spot in the standings. Taha, a 6'7” third year center, scored eight of his points late in the fourth quarter, including six straight baskets in an 11-2 run that turned a one-point Purefoods deficit into an eight-point lead, 77-69, with a minute left. PJ Simon paced Purefoods with 19 points. Mark Barroca and James Yap added 16 and 11 points respectively. The Bolts appeared headed for another road victory after their conquest of the Barangay Ginebra Kings last Friday as they kept the Hotshots trailing for most of the second half. But then came Taha's heroics that spelled doom for the Bolts. Meralco fell to a 4-4 card in a tie with GlobalPort at seventh to eighth place. Gary David led the Bolts with 20 points while Jared Dillinger added 12 markers. Cliff Hodge and Mark Macapagal chipped nine points apiece. Talk N Text 122, Barako Bull 106 The Talk N Text Tropang Texters came off to a blazing start to pummel the Barako Bull Energy, 122-106. Atoning for their miserable performance when they were upset by the GlobalPort Batang Pier in their last game, the Texters quickly asserted their dominance his time, leaving no room for doubt this time on the outcome of the game. They exploded for 40 huge points right in the first quarter to take a 20-point lead, and never relaxed their grip on the beleaguered Barako Bull. Jayson Castro led the TNT blitzkrieg, scoring 14 of his 26 points in the first quarter. Jimmy Alapag added 14 points, while Ranidel de Ocampo and Larry Fonacier chipped in 13 points apiece. The Texters improved to 5-3, tying idle Ginebra at fourth to fifth spot in the standings. The loss snapped the Energy's two-game winning streak as they fell to solo 10th in the standings with a 2-5 card. Paolo Hubalde led Barako Bull with 19 points while JC Intal and Chico Lanete had 16 points apiece. Denok Miranda and Mick Pennisi chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively. Games Tuesday: GlobalPort Batang Pier vs. San Miguel Beermen and Rain or Shine Elasto painters vs. NLEX Road Warriors.
