BINAN, Laguna: Jason Castro needed to come up with a performance like this one, not only for Talk 'N Text, but also for himself.

The fleet-footed guard, whose myth of dominance was shattered last season in two series against one team, came up with a superstar effort on Sunday night and led the Tropang Texters to a one-sided 122-106 victory over Barako Bull in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Alonte Sports Center here.

After being checked by San Mig Coffee, now Purefoods, last season leading to the Mixers’ eventual Grand Slam, Castro erupted for 26 points, 14 of them in the opening period, as the Tropang Texters stayed in the upper half of the elimination round standings after rising to 5-3.

It was by far the most dominant performance of the 6-foot Castro this season as he helped the Texters bounce back from an upset loss to Globalport to keep the leaders in sight and stay mathematically in the hunt for a top two slot.

Finishing 1-2 after this round would mean qualifying outright to the Final Four.

Incidentally, Alaska reclaimed solo first place after an 87-74 victory over the Batang Pier Saturday night at the Xavier University gym in Cagayan de Oro City.

The Aces survived Globalport despite going scoreless in the final 3:30, jacking up their record to 7-1 and temporarily peeling away from its tie with San Miguel Beer.

The Beermen can catch up with the Aces with a victory against the Batang Pier at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday as elimination round action returns to the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Winning at this stage of the elimination round is important for every team as those who miss the first two spots can settle for the next best thing: a twice-to-beat privilege in the quarterfinals.

Teams that qualify Nos. 3-6 would need to win just once against Nos. 7-10 to make it to the second phase of the quarterfinals, with the survivors advancing to another series that would determine the last two semifinalists.

Only two teams will get the boot and at the rate things are going, newcomers KIA Motors and Blackwater are solid candidates for early vacations.

Though Talk 'N Text looked unstoppable after building leads of as big as 31 points against the Energy, coach Jong Uichico didn’t sound at all happy during the customary winning coach’s interview.

“Play defense, play defense, play defense,” Uichico told reporters. “We need to play solid defense every time.”

Uichico did say that his charges did play excellent offense, but he was quick to point out that in order to go deep into this tournament, a better defensive effort would be needed.

Defending champion Purefoods strung up its third straight win later in the night, a 77-74 decision of Meralco.

The Star Hotshots found an unlikely offensive anchor in third-string center Yousef Taha in the fourth period, where the 6-foot-8 center scored eight of his 14 points, including six straight when the game was on the line.

Meralco, which upset Barangay Ginebra last week, looked poised to claiming another heavyweight after taking a 59-52 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Bolts were in the lead for the last time at 67-66 before Taha scored those six points and Joe Devance a jumper to give the Hotshots a 74-67 lead going into the final 79 seconds.

Purefoods thus moved above .500 for the first time with its fourth win in seven games, while the Bolts dropped to a level 4-4 card.

Peter June Simon led all Purefoods gunners with 18 points, with Mark Barroca finishing with 16, Taha missed a double-double by just one rebound and had three assists.