The Tropang Texters manhandled San Miguel Beer in every way possible in Wednesday night’s Game 5, taking a 99-77 victory to move within another win of wrapping up the best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup title series at the Araneta Coliseum.

Jimmy Alapag, a virtual non-entity in the last two games which San Miguel won, came off the bench and missed a triple double by just three rebounds after shooting 16 points and issuing 10 feeds.

It was a performance that carried the Tropang Texters past a 13-point second quarter deficit and to several commanding leads later on which the Beermen never came close to overhauling.

And in a series this close, in a matchup so even, getting the confidence the way the Texters did could spell all the difference.

“Of course we are very happy,” Talk ’N Text coach Chot Reyes said. “But as far as I am concerned, that (game) was the first half. We came into this contest ready to play 96 hard, great minutes of basketball.

“We are halfway there and we need to find a way to put together another good 48 minutes on (Game 6 on) Friday,” added Reyes, whose squad posted a 27-point lead late in the fourth after a string of Larry Fonacier triples.

San Miguel, meanwhile, picked the absolute worst time to again be passive, and the Beermen’s sudden dip in form didn’t escape the eyes of their coach, Ato Agustin.

“We saw that we were outhustled and outworked and it clearly showed that they (Texters) wanted it more today,” Agustin told reporters in Filipino. “The result (final score) showed it.” The Beermen held a 27-14 lead early in the second period before everything seemed to cave in.

Handling the ball sloppily and defending half-heartedly, the Beermen saw that lead evaporate quickly as Alapag got away from the clutches of a tight defensive blanket employed by San Miguel to rifle in three triples in the third period alone.

After shooting just nine points in an 87-91 loss three nights ago, Alapag erupted for 12 in the second quarter alone, and the result was a 52-44 bubble at halftime the Texters never surrendered.

“It doesn’t matter who starts (at the point guard spot),” Alapag, who played 34 total minutes, told reporters later on. “The bottom line is we win together as a group.” Ranidel de Ocampo got away on several occasions and went on to lead the Texters with 20, nine of them coming in the fourth period as he made a good case for himself for the Finals MVP award should Talk ‘N Text go all the way.

Santos and Jay Washington each scored 18 points for the Beermen. They combined for 23 rebounds, but San Miguel couldn’t find significant contributors besides its two big men with Dondon Hontiveros scoring just two of his 14 in the second half.

Meanwhile, four imports passed the height limit of 6-feet-4 inches set for the Commissioner’s Cup that will open on Feb. 18.

Alaska’s Eddie Basden was not one of them, measured to be a quarter of an inch taller that made the Aces lose a lot of money.

Basden’s contract in the NBA’s D-League was reportedly bought out for Alaska to be able to bring him here, as the Aces are now scrambling to find a suitable replacement.

Air21 will be bringing in JaJuan Smith, a guard who played for Dallas in the NBA Summer League, who is expected to plane in either Thursday or Friday to join the Express.

Derby Ace’s Robert Brown is the smallest thus far, measured at just 6’2-5/16 even as Meralco’s Tony Dandridge (6’3-14/16”), Ginebra’s Nate Brumfield (6’3-9/16”) and Rain or Shine’s Hassan Adams (6’3-5/16”) all made the grade.