MANILA: How sweet it is.

Talk ‘N Text, so close to being listed as a goner after falling behind 0-2 two weeks ago, last night came up with a whale of a Game 7 performance to bag the Philippine Cup before a virtual sea of humanity at the Araneta Coliseum.

Mac Cardona scored 23 points, 18 of them in the middle two quarters, and Jason Castro came up with numbers belying his rookie status as the duo led the Tropang Texters to a 93-89 victory that had all the drama and the excitement on and off the floor.

Castro finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals, stealing the thunder from his more established teammates at the crunch as the Texters returned to the champion’s circle after a six-year wait.

It was the second all-Filipino title for the Texters and the third for coach Chot Reyes in as many teams, having led Purefoods and Coca-Cola to championships in this tournament in a storied career that could certainly qualify as one of the greats.

“Barely 16 to 18 months ago, I was in the lowest of coaching depths,” Reyes said afterwards. “I remembered clearly on Aug. 1, 2007 when I felt that I let the country down in the Fiba-Asia championships in Japan that I wanted to take a break from coaching. “For me, this is really a validation that I made the right decision to continue coaching,” he added. “It erases the pain of that Tokushima debacle somewhat.

“Still, all credit goes to my players who fought long and hard for this one.” Fight the Texters did while maintaining so much composure in the face of a furious Alaska finish that actually sputtered when it mattered most.

Talk ‘N Text built leads of as many as 13 points in the third period only to encounter rough sailing in the end, when the Aces rallied mightily back and even took a two-point lead entering the final 2:36 after two Larry Fonacier free throws. What made the victory so sweet was the fact that the Texters had to battle for their last points on the board, while getting their prayers answered at the same time after Alaska missed four straight free throws inside the last 26.9 seconds.

That made all the difference in the match, which was so emotionally-charged that players from both sides wept openly on center court afterwards. Reynel Hugnatan scored 13 points in the fourth period to carry the fightback for the Aces. But he, like all the others in the Alaska lineup, were effectively bottled up when winning time came. Willie Miller, who won the Best Player of the Conference award before Game 4, went on to lead the Aces with 22 markers.

What tainted his fine Game 7 performance, though, was a critical turnover and the last two of those missed free throws.

Joe Devance missed the first pair, which was awarded Alaska with 26.9 left after Ali Peek clipped him hard while going for a drive. The former No. 1 pick of Welcoat was jittery to say the least, with his two attempts not even coming close to going in. Even without what Alaska coach Tim Cone said were his irritating on-court antics, Cardona was greatly effective.

The former La Salle ace in the UAAP scored 10 points in the second period when the Aces erased deficits of as many as eight points, with his last basket — a triple — coming with 10:53 left which gave the Texters a 76-63 lead.

He went on to win Finals MVP honors, which came as an easy choice from the covering media after he averaged close to 22 points a contest in the series. Hugnatan finished with 17 points and Devance had 14 and 11 rebounds for Alaska , which lost the last two games to not only blow a 2-0 lead but also a 3-2 advantage as well. Meanwhile, crowd-darling and defending champion Barangay Ginebra has re-signed Rod Nealy as its import for the Fiesta Cup that gets off the ground at the end of the month with an out-of-town game in Dumaguete.

Nealy, a southpaw, saw action for the Kings two years ago, helping Ginebra to the quarterfinals after averaging close to 32 points in 22 total games.

His stint then was highlighted by a league-best 39.1% shooting from the three-point range and 51.4% from two-point zone. Nealy also plucked down an average of close to 15 rebounds, second best in the tournament at that time, aside from having 5.4 assists and 1.4 steals.