The Tropang Texters on Wednesday night overhauled a 17-point third quarter deficit to nip the Gin Kings, 91-84, and move within another victory of clinching the PBA Commissioner’s Cup before a virtual sea of humanity at the Araneta Colizeum.

Paul Harris anchored the huge Talk ‘N Text awakening from late in the third quarter on, shooting 23 of his points in the final two periods as the Texters survived a mediocre first half to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Game 5, the potential clincher for the Texters, is scheduled Friday night also at the Big Dome in Cubao with a win putting Talk ‘N Text closer toward completing its first bid in annexing a rare Grand Slam.

After shooting just three first half points, coach Chot Reyes got into Harris’ ear during the break and even tried ribbing his import on his loss to Ginebra’s Nate Brumfield in the Best Import derby.

“I asked him ‘are you in or are you out in the second half,’’ Reyes told reporters after their second victory, a different one compared to the first two wins which came by an average of close to 20 points.

“We hung in there (first half) through the effort of the locals,” Reyes said, referring to the ugly first two quarters that saw them limited to just 36 points – the lowest total for the team in a half this season.

“There’s just no quit in this team and today we showed it.”

After Harris caught fire in the second half, the Talk ‘N Text defense made life at its most miserable for Brumfield, who scored just six points in the final two periods, certainly not doing justice to the award he received before tipoff.

Brumfield, who owns the season-high of 45 points, finished with just 15 markers and 15 rebounds, taken effectively out of the equation by the clamping Talk ‘N Text defense that has given him no room to operate ever since the start of the series.

And while Reyes praised his team over their latest win, Ginebra counterpart Jong Uichico put the blame squarely on himself, saying that it was a tactical error on his part on why the Kings couldn’t sustain the fire they started the game with.

“I thought we played very well tonight. I thought we defended very well and scored in the first half pretty well,” Uichico said. “But it was evident in the latter part that I extended them (key Ginebra players) to too many minutes on the floor.

“It was my mistake, I probably played them more than I should have,” added Uichico, who used just nine men after going to as deep as his 11th man in the series’ first three games.

Reyes said that Ginebra will be most dangerous come the fifth game, when the Kings can play loose and without fear being 1-3 down in the series.

And it is that game which Reyes said he hopes his wards play their best game of the tournament.

“We need to get four (wins),” Reyes said. “We need to find a way to play our best game ever on Friday, because on Friday, they (Kings) will come in with greater effort because of the situation.

“Tonight, they came out hard because it was by design,” he continued. “On Friday, they don’t have a choice and we have to match that intensity.”

Mark Caguioa also had 15 points for the Kings but he was held to just four in the final two periods. Willie Miller and Ronald Tubid, also key figures why Ginebra took a 55-38 lead early in the third, both sputtered in the stretch.

Uichico used just nine men Wednesday night, maybe a sign of desperation, as he kept rookies Rob Labagala and John Wilson on the bench even after the two saw extended minutes in the series’ first three games.