Talk N Text's Ranidel de Ocampo finds a way to put up a shot against the leech-like defense of Rain or Shine's Raymond Almazan in Game 1 of Wednesday night's PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals at the Mall of Asia Arena. Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette
MANILA — Veteran Ranidel de Ocampo dished out a scintillating performance Wednesday night, leading the Talk N Text Tropang Texters to a resounding 99-92 victory over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in Game 1 of their best-of-seven PBA Commissioner's Cup finals at the Mall of Asia Arena. De Ocampo posted 24 points, including six of his team's last nine points. Import Ivan Johnson added 23 points, 12 rebounds and five assists while Jayson Castro finished with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists. Matt Ganuelas-Rosser chipped in with 10 points and six boards. The Painters could only blame themselves for the loss as they fell into a maze of errors, turning the ball over 17 times leading to 15 turnover points for the Texters. The Painters also missed 15 free throws. The Texters started hot, drilling four three-pointers in the first five minutes of the game as they raced to a 17-9 lead. The Painters came charging back to level the score at 17-all. But De Ocampo banged in nine straight points as the Texters took a 28-23 lead at the end of the first quarter. Talk N Text maintained an eight-point lead, 49-41, at the end of the first half as the team's second unit led by Kelly Williams also began heating up. Williams scored six points in one stretch of the second quarter. Led by their import Wayne Chism, the Painters trimmed TNT's lead to six, 76-70, at the end of the third quarter. Rain or Shine continued to hang on the coattails of TNT, cutting the deficit to five points in the final quarter. But a final 10-4 TNT blast, capped by a booming triple from Castro and a three-point play by De Ocampo, restored the Texters' double-digit lead with a minute left, virtually sealing the victory. Chism led the Painters with 34 points and 16 rebounds but committed five turnovers. Paul added 13 points but only scored two points in the entire second half. No other Painter scored in double digits. Meanwhile, Talk N Text signed up veteran Jordanian national player Sam Daghles as its Asian import for the upcoming PBA Governors Cup. One of the best playmakers in Asia, Daghles played a key role in Jordan's third-place finish in the 2009 Fiba-Asia men's championship in Tianjin, China, as well as a runner-up placing two years later in Wuhan, China. He played under coach Tab Baldwin in the 2011 Fiba-Asia, where Jordan dropped a 70-69 loss to host China in the gold medal round. Baldwin now handles the Gilas Philippine national men's squad. Daghles will join TNT's other import, Steffphon Pettigrew, in the season-ending Governors Cup. Game Friday: Talk N Text vs. Rain or Shine (Game 2 of best-of-7 Finals with TNT up 1-0).
