Shocking as it may look and sound, the Boosters are the ones on the verge of one of the greatest upsets in PBA championship history.

Defense operating like clock-work, Petron limited Talk ‘N Text to a season-low nine points in the opening quarter, built another commanding lead midway in the match, and then thwarted a desperate rally by the Tropang Texters in the fourth period on its way to a 93-80 victory in Game 5 of the PBA Governors’ Cup Wednesday night to move to within a victory of an unexpected title romp in the season-ending conference at the Araneta Coliseum.

Anthony Grundy started off hot before gliding his way to a 26-point, 11-rebound finish, Arwind Santos was reliable as always in scoring 20 points and pulling down 14 rebounds, and Danny Ildefonso had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Boosters, who can wrap up the best-of-seven Finals Friday night with a win, their 19th title.

“Hindi bumigay ang mga bata,” said Petron rookie coach Ato Agustin.

“Our defense was the key in the win. This is a rare opportunity for us, so we just have to make the most of it and try to execute the same tough defense on Friday.”  It was the first back-to-back win by Petron in the series, and it sent Talk ‘N Text on the edge of a Finals’ loss it’s not accustomed to facing since winning the Philippine Cup and the Commissioner’s Cup in six games.

Now, the Texters are the underdogs.

The team looking to capture a rare Grand Slam was a sorry lot from the start. The Texters just shot 15 percent from the field in the first quarter (3-of-20) and never really got into a rhythm until Ranidel de Ocampo hit three straight threes at the start of the final period.

The best the Texters could come to within to was at 81-73 on a basket by Ryan Reyes, but Ildefonso hit back-to-back baskets and Alex Cabagnot knocked in a triple to make it an 81-75 spread.

This wasn’t what Talk ‘N Text had imagined entering the Finals, one that the franchise was projected to win with relative ease since the Petron was missing the services of Jay Washington, Rookie of the Year Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Lordy Tugade, and Joseph Yeo to injuries.

Talk ‘N Text had a gap to fill on its own. It saw action without Jayson Castro, its leading scorer in the Finals (17.75 ppg) because of a knee injury (MCL). Castro will no longer return to play for the rest of the Finals, according to TNT coach Chot Reyes.

Worse, the Texters played as if they had no import at all.

“” Reyes asked during the post-game interview.

“Their import is playing fantastic. Our import sucks.”  That man is no other else than Scottie Reynolds, someone who’s supposed to be a dead-shot.

But the popular Villanova college player only finished with five points this time on a horrible 2-of-12 shooting from the field. For the past two games, Reynolds has been shooting 5-of-27 from the floor.

The best Talk ‘N Text player of the night was Ryan Reyes, who scored 14 points. Kelly Williams had 13 points but was held to three rebounds while Ali Peek contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Talk ‘N Text also had only 11 fastbreak points, and shot 33.3 percent from the field throughout the match on 28-of-84 shooting.

Meantime, Paul Lee, perhaps the best non-Smart Gilas player out there, has finally applied for the PBA Draft.

The University of the East stalwart made himself available for the Aug. 28 event at the Robinson’s Place-Manila Thursday afternoon, joining a pool of candidates loaded with national players led by off-guards’ Marcio Lassiter, Chris Lutz, Mark Barroca, Mac Baracael, Dylan Ababou and Jason Ballesteros.

JV Casio and Chris Tiu have yet to apply for the Draft and there is the possibility that the two will remain with Smart-Gilas, which has already revealed that it will continue with its program for two more years.

Powerade owns the No. 1 pick next season. The Tigers also possess the No. 4 choice.

The Draft order is as follows: Rain or Shine (second); Air21 (third), B-Meg (fifth); Alaska (sixth); Petron or Shopinas (seventh); Petron or Shopinas (eighth); Ginebra (ninth) and Air21 10th.