MANILA, 3 September — The Talk ‘N’Text Phone Pals shot the lights out on the Alaska Aces with an 89-73 victory last night in the series-clinching Game Five of the Philippine Basketball Association Samsung Commissioner’s Cup semifinals at the Araneta Coliseum.

“I’m so proud of the way my players responded tonight,” said Bill Bayno, the Phone Pals’ controversial American coach, after the series-clinching win. “I’ve got two of the best imports in the league but the key for us was the ability of our locals to step up.”

By wrapping up the best-of-five series, 3-2, the Phone Pals moved one step closer to their first conference championship in franchise history —a drought that stretches back to 1996 when the PLDT-owned club took over from Lapanday Holdings.

The Phone Pals, who in the season-opening Governors Cup failed to advance past the quarterfinals despite the No. 1 seeding and twice-to-beat advantage, also avoided the ignominy of becoming the first team to lose from 2-0 up in a semifinal playoff.

Their best-of-seven duel against defending champion Red Bull starting Friday at the Cuneta Astrodome will only be the second finals appearance for the Phone Pals, whose only championship came in the 1998 Centennial Cup side-event.

The franchise is actually without a championship since it joined the league as Pepsi in 1990.

Talk ‘N’Text will now advance to the championship for the first time under Bayno’s watch and will meet defending champion Red Bull there, in a match-up that will resemble a track meet because of both teams’ penchant for running.

The Phone Pals broke away in the second period, leading by 12 at halftime, but it was Jerald Honeycutt, the Phone Pals’ Big Factor, who broke Alaska in the second half and thwarted the Aces’ bid to come back from a 0-2 deficit and win a race-to-three affair.

“I’m just so proud of my team. Some of the guys on my team are players who could not find a place in any other team in this league,” said Bayno.

“We never expected to be in the championship. Right from the start, the goal was to be the best we could be as a team,” he added.

Among those who have shown big improvement since hooking up with Bayno and the Phone Pals was Kenny Evans, who made the second of four three-points he drained last night in a run where while Honeycutt added one and a fast break slam dunk to pull the Phone Pals away, 57-39.

Talk ‘N’Text led by 19 in several instances in the second half to completely dominate the game. “They shot the lights out on us,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone. “We couldn’t put the pressure on them (Phone Pals) because we couldn’t get the score close.”

Alaska was in trouble even before the Aces could get to their dugout at the half. Ajani Williams, who led the team in scoring, had four fouls before the break. Chris Carrawell had two, but was shooting two-of-nine from the field going into half-time.

“We put a lot of pressure on Carrawell and on (Rodney) Santos,” Bayno said. “That’s what we did all night, we kept pushing and putting pressure on defense.”

Honeycutt finished with 29 points, 20 in the second half as he made three-point shots, scored off follow-up dunks and banked off the glass every time Alaska threatened to make a run. Honeycutt also finished with seven boards and seven feeds.

Pete Mickeal had 28 points, 13 rebounds and five assists for the Phone Pals. Williams finished with 24 and 10 boards, but was hardly a defensive factor in the second half because of foul trouble. Carrawell ended up shooting eight-of-22 from the field and finished with 23 points.

The outspoken Bayno, who has shelled out 220,000 pesos in fines in this conference, later praised the referees for a job a well done.

“I think tonight is the best officiated game since I’ve been down here,” Bayno said. “ I’ve never been a complainer. But I just want my team to be treated fairly. I know that because of my big mouth, some people want to see me lose. But we would not have gotten here if I didn’t say those words.”

The scores: Talk ‘N’Text 89 — Honeycutt 29, Mickeal 28, Evans 12, Demape 6, Telan 5, Pablo 4, Lago 3, Belano 2, Fran 0. Alaska 73 —Williams 24, Carrawell 23, Duat 10, Santos 8, Peek 6, Lastimosa 2, Feihl 0, Ticzon 0, Allado 0, Ordonio 0. Quarterscores: 24-18, 49-37, 71-53-89-73.