Macmac Cardona, still nursing a head wound from a previous game that required four stitches, uncorked 32 points to power the defending champion Talk N Text (TNT) Tropang Texters to a 115-104 thrashing of the Burger King (BK) Whoppers Friday night in the 2009-2010 KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City. Their eighth win in 12 games brought the Texters back in contention for an outright semifinals berth. They also defeated the Whoppers during their first meeting, 118-105, in a game where they rallied from a 30-point deficit. The loss dropped the Whoppers to solo seventh in the standings with their 4-8 win-loss slate. Unlike their past two games, there was no meltdown for the Texters this time as they were in full control of the game from the second quarter until the final buzzer. Last Dec. 2, TNT lost a 20-point lead and went down in defeat against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 93-95. Then last Dec. 5, TNT also piled up a huge lead against the Coca-Cola Tigers but had to use a late-game defensive stop from Ali Peek to eke out a 107-104 win. In the earlier match, rookie guard Josh Urbiztondo tied his career-high 22 points to help the Sta. Lucia Realtors repulse the Coca-Cola Tigers, 98-92. Urbiztondo, who had no takers during the annual rookie Draft last October, drained six of 10 three-point attempts in a solid performance that drew the nod of Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez. His back-to-back treys late in the second quarter broke a 41-all deadlock as the Realtors pulled away. Urbiztondo nearly eclipsed his more prominent teammate, Kelly Williams who actually topscored with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Williams also grabbed 17 rebounds and had six assists and two blocks. But Urbiztondo was the one who scored the crucial baskets as the Realtors snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to a 6-5 record. “His (Urbiztondo) energy and effort was awesome. When we signed him up, we knew he'll be playing a huge role for the team. I'm glad he stepped up bigtime tonight,” said Fernandez. The Tigers suffered their 11th defeat in 12 games to remain stuck at the bottom of the standings. Not even the return of ace center Asi Taulava, who was sidelined for six weeks with a right ankle injury, could rejuvenate the struggling Tigers. Still out of shape, Taulava scored only 8 points on top of 10 rebounds. Alex Cabagnot led Coca
