After three quarters of nip and tuck battle, the Alaska Aces made one huge in the homestretch to down the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 82-73, Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum in the PBA Fiesta Conference. Diamon Simpson scored 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds while LA Tenorio chipped in with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists in leading the Aces to their fifth win in nine games, tying the idle Barangay Ginebra Kings at fourth to fifth places in the standings. The Painters were led by Jai Lewis who scored 14 points and seized 12 rebounds. They fell to their fifth loss in nine games, tying the idle Sta. Lucia Realtors from sixth to seventh places in the rankings. In the first ballgame of the double-header, Kelly Wiliams and Ryan Reyes both made an impressive debut with their new team, Talk N Text, as the Tropang Texters mauled the Coca-Cola Tigers 103-93. Williams came off the bench to score 13 points in just 24 minutes of action while Reyes drilled all of his five points in the pivotal fourth quarter to finally put away the fierce-fighting Tigers. Shawn Daniels led the Texters with 23 points and 17 rebounds while Mark Cardona had 20 points, 12 of them in the third quarter when the Tigers were threatening to seize control of the game. It was the Texters' sixth straight win and seventh overall in nine games as Talk N Text solidified its hold on second place behind the pacesetting San Miguel Beermen (8-1). Significantly, the sixth straight win was the Talk N Text franchise's longest winning streak in the last six years. Gary David topscored for the Tigers with 21 points while new import Rashad Bell chipped in with 18 points, 14 of them in the third quarter. However, Bell scored just a point on a split free-throw in the fourth quarter. Coca-Cola thus suffered its fifth straight loss and fell to 4-6, taking solo eighth place in the rankings. TNT head coach Chot Reyes warmly welcomed Wiliams and Reyes into his team after they were traded by the Sta. Lucia Realtors in exchange for Ali Peek, Nic Belasco and Pong Escobal. “I got to give a lot of credit to Kelly and Ryan coming in on a very unfamiliar situation and they were able to contribute right away,” Reyes said. The two played well despite their unfamiliarity with the Talk N Text style of play. “It wasn't pretty. We weren't as fluid as we normally are, but we kind of expected it and in the end what pleased me the most is that we won it on defense,” Reyes said. Wiliams was likewise in high spirits after the game. “It feels good to get a win especially that this is an adjustment period for me and Ryan. We really got a super lot of help from our teammates and coaches to get us familiar with a lot of things,” he said.
