MANILA, 4 April 2004 — Talk N’ Text claimed a 97-93 thriller over Purefoods with Jimmy Alapag clinching the win as the Hotdogs hastened their own downfall with a crucial error after a sizzling rally in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference at the Tacloban National High School gym in Tacloban, Leyte, Friday night.
The spitfire Fil-Am guard regaled a sellout crowd in a place where he traced his roots as he gunned down two crucial free throws at endgame for the victory in the very first PBA game ever played in this capital city.
Jerald Honeycutt and crowd-favorite Asi Taulava scored a total of 16 points in the third period as Talk N’ Text led by 16 points twice on the way to snapping a two-game slide and pocket its fifth win in eight outings.
Taulava also brought the house down with a pair of monster slams, sending the Phone Pal’s cheerers to a roar, which was partially silenced when Purefoods rookie Jun Simon keyed a rally early in the fourth and Noy Castillo ignited another one in the stretch.
Simon had Purefoods within 85-77 going into the final nine minutes while Castillo hit six straight points while Artadi had a split that made it 94-89, 2:05 to play.
Artadi then went for a steal and drew a flagrant foul off Alapag, giving the speedy guard two free throws plus possession with 1:45 remaining.
Artadi, troubled by free throw shooting during his amateur days, missed both freebies but connected on a lay-up the following possession to make it 94-91.
An offensive foul on Alapag made things even more interesting as Eddie Elisma countered with a lay-up on the other end to 94-93, 1:21 remaining.
Miller missed an attempt in the ensuing play and Purefoods grabbed a rebound with a chance to take the lead, but Elisma was slapped with an offensive foul with 55 ticks remaining.
Vic Pablo missed another jumper and Alvin Patrimonio collared the rebound as Purefoods sued for time, 28 seconds to play.
Castillo missed a jumper when his team needed it most and Elisma grabbed the offensive rebound but passed the ball accidentally to Alapag, who was fouled with 16.9 ticks remaining. Alapag made both free throws to stretch the lead to 96-93.
Honeycutt finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists while Taulava chipped in 20 points and 11 boards. Pablo wound up with 14 while Alapag had 13 and eight assists. Yancy de Ocampo also scored in twin digits for Talk N’ Text, knocking in 10.
Elisma led Purefoods with 20 points and six blocks, but he had only five rebounds and committed that big blunder down the stretch that could have turned the game around.
