MANILA: Too bad this game wasn’t for the championship.

In a game that had all trimmings of a classic, Talk ‘N Text on Wednesday night pulled out an 84-81 overtime decision of San Mig Coffee, putting the Mixers’ Grand Slam bid in peril by taking their Final Four series in the PBA Governors’ Cup to the distance.

Like in their Game 3 triumph where coach Norman Black maximized his entire bench, the Tropang Texters got almost everyone involved and survived elimination for the second straight game at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Paul Harris played super tough defense on Marqus Blakely and also made his presence felt offensively, finishing with 22 points and 13 rebounds, ignoring the pain of a busted cheekbone suffered early in the second quarter.

It was a game for the ages, as the result hung in the balance all night with Talk ‘N Text sealing the victory only after forcing Joe Devance to take a wayward triple try at the buzzer that missed the mark horribly.

Talk ‘N Text actually bungled a golden chance to win it regulation when, protecting a four-point lead, Harris tried an outlet pass that was deflected by Devance which led to a Blakely basket that made it 74-72 with 56 seconds to go.

The Texters then had three total attempts in their next possession before being whistled for a 24-second violation that left 7.2 seconds for the Mixers to mount a game-tying play.

Former two-time MVP James Yap was up to the task, scoring on a one-handed, running jumper off the face of Harris that left no time on the clock for 74-all.

Game 5 is set Friday night and there’s no doubt that the Texters, who lost in four games in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals that gave the Mixers this chance at a Triple Crown sweep, will have the momentum.

“We did what we had to do in this game and that is to survive,” Black told reporters later. “We gutted it out today, we played with a lot of heart the entire night.

“Right now, it’s all about who will have more left in the tank for Friday (in Game 5).”

San Mig scored the first basket in overtime before the Texters scored seven unanswered points touched off by a Ranidel de Ocampo triple.

But the Mixers refused to just fold up, mustering their last ounce of energy to keep a shot at winning the game only for the Talk ‘N Text defense to hold up and silence the pro-San Mig crowd that was expecting a huge celebration.

Jason Castro finished with 11 points like Larry Fonacier, who had a wide open short stab with 2:30 remaining in overtime that made it 81-76.

Yap paced the Mixers with 23 points and in stark contrast to Black’s gameplan, Cone utilized just nine men, with only seven contributing offensively.

Blakely, the winner of the Best Import award last year, finished with just 12 points but had 21 rebounds. His offense was effectively scuttled by the Talk ‘N Text defense and he scored his first bucket with less than a minute left in the second period,

The winner of this series will clash with the survivor of the Rain or Shine-Alaska series, which the Aces will try to wrap up Thursday night at 8 p.m. also at the Big Dome in Cubao.

Alaska took a 2-1 edge on Tuesday night after a 104-94 victory where Henry Walker, despite a sore right elbow, delivered the telling blows in the fourth quarter.

“I have been in the PBA long enough to know that this series is far from over,” said rookie Alaska coach Alex Compton. “We still need to win one more game.