Petron Blaze sustained its high-octane run and rampaged past Philippine Cup titlist Talk n Text, 122-88, to assure itself of a Top Four finish in the PBA Governors Cup eliminations at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.
The Boosters roared on like a hot, mean
, notching a sixth straight win that guaranteed them of a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals with two games left (versus Alaska and Globalport) in the elims.
“It was a big game and it gave us the additional chance to realize our goal of making the semifinals,” said Petron coach Gie Abanilla.
“Right now we could experiment on things we want to do offensively. That’s the luxury we have now,” Abanilla also said. “We want to stay grounded. We’ll continue to learn and we’ll be okay.”
The Boosters are now unshakeable in the Top Four at 6-1. The Tropang Texters, meanwhile, have a lot of catching up to do while falling down to eighth place at 2-4.
Petron roared mightily in the second period, 28-7, pulling away never to look back as the Boosters outdid themselves in their 112-86 conquest of the Air21 Express last Aug. 28.
Coming off a 112-87 demolition of Barako Bull, the Boosters revved up even more, crushing the Texters in each quarter.
“We played good defense. In fact, we held them down to seven points in the second quarter, and that paved the way for this big win,” said Abanilla.
The two teams engaged in a shootout in the first quarter then the Tropang Texters bogged down in the next, scoring only seven points on 3-of-16 field shooting.
Tony Mitchell went 0-of-5 in the quarter and was used by coach Norman Black for only two minutes more in the final half.
Reports said a new guy is flying in to take over from Mitchell.
Abanilla utilized 14 men with five players in Elijah Millsap, Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter, Arwind Santos and Chico Lanete finishing in double figures.
Millsap wound up with double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds with Cabagnot adding 20 markers, Lassiter 18, Santos 14 and Lanete 13.
Rabeh Al-Hussaini topscored for the losing team with 18. Mitchell made only seven points and two rebounds in what could be his farewell performance in the local pro league. (SB)
The scores:
Petron 122 – Millsap 25, Cabagnot 20, Lassiter 18, Santos 14, Lanete 13, Fajardo 7, Kramer 6, Hubalde 6, Miranda 4, Ildefonso 4, Tubid 3, Lutz 2, Deutchman 0, Sison 0.
Talk N’ Text 88 – Al-Hussaini 18, Anthony 11, Peek 10, Castro 8, Mitchell 7, Aban 6, De Ocampo 6, Carey 6, Alapag 6, Fonacier 5, Ferriols 4, Aquino 1, Gamalinda 0, Alvarez 0.
Quarters: 35-30, 63-37, 94-63, 122-88
Source: http://pba.inquirer.net/30653/no-stopping-petron-blaze-juggernaut
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