With their ultra-loaded offensive armada in full force in the second half, the Tropang Texters blew Derby Ace’s much-feared defensive game to bits for a 114-89 victory at the Araneta Coliseum that extended Talk ‘N Text’s magnificent winning run to seven games.

Seven players scored in twin digits for the Texters, who came into this game hoping to put Derby Ace’s defense to the test – which proved no match for Talk ’N Text’s offense.

“Coming to this ballgame, all we talked about was to come up with a great performance,” Texters coach Chot Reyes later said. “We know that Purefoods (Derby Ace) is a champion team and I knew they would not go down quickly even as we started strong in the third.

“That’s a very, very strong team. We just caught them at a time when their other players were not scoring,” Reyes added. “I think James Yap got tired when we put Jared Dillinger and Harvey Carey on him. It helped us a lot.”

Yap, Derby Ace’s top gun, got a dose of what he and his teammates have done to most of the star players of the other teams – being shut down.

After Yap shot 24 points in the first half, Reyes threw a defensive blanket that Yap didn’t even come close to solving as the former MVP was starved for a mere two  points in the final two periods which aided Derby Ace’s loss.

Mac Cardona led the Texters with 23 points, reestablishing his character in the team despite the addition of two new superstars. Harvey Carey also did well offensively by shooting 16 markers.

After Yap’s 28, Cliff Brown was the only other heavy scorer for the Llamados with 22. No one else was able to score in twin digits for coach Ryan Gregorio.

The loss was the first in the last four games for the Llamados, the reigning Philippine Cup champions who slid to 6-4 overall, now tied for third place with idle sister team Barangay Ginebra.

Talk ‘N Text rose to 8-2 with the victory, now just a full game behind league-leading San Miguel’s 9-1 record.

Not only are the Beermen the only team that has won more games than the Texters, they also have a longer winning streak – eight games.

The arrival of Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes from Sta. Lucia has boosted the stock of the Texters no end. But not a few questioned how Reyes the coach would be able to juggle so many superstars in one team and not hurt the egos of the others who will lose the minutes.

That was the thing that happened to Ginebra, which has been struggling lately after Yancy de Ocampo, Rudy Hatfield and Willie Miller arrived.

But Chot Reyes seems to have found the answer quickly.

“If the players don’t mind the (reduced) minutes they play and just focus on their roles, then we’re in good situation,” Reyes said.” Today, we had seven players in double figures. That’s how we want to roll – not rely on just one person.”

Offense, a lot of it, also won the game for Alaska in the first game after Cyrus Baguio set an all-comer’s record for most consecutive baskets made in a quarter in a 108-98 victory over slumping Coca-Cola.

Baguio, who took over as the Aces’ go-to-guy with the departure of Miller to Ginebra, hit all of his nine shots in the first period to jumpstart the Alaska offense as the Aces were actually the first to earn a third place tie with the Gin Kings at 6-4.

The loss was the sixth straight for the Tigers, who got 35 points from Rashad Bell and 23 from Gary David but still fell way short of snapping out of the rut.

“Cyrus had a big game tonight,” Alaska coach Tim Cone said. “But my philosophy remains the same: I would want us to be winning games on the defensive end more rather than on offense.”