Talk n Text took to heart its sorry loss in Game Two and made up for it with a businesslike job in Game Three.

The Tropang Texters fought with great resolve and utterly dominated the B-MEG Derby Ace Llamados for a 92-78 victory and a 2-1 lead in their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal showdown at the Araneta Coliseum Friday night.

Working hard on both ends, the Texters seized control early and refused to relax in scoring the
lone blowout win in both semis showdowns so far.

All the players tapped in by coach Chot Reyes played with grit and guts, leaving nothing to chance after their heartbreaking 87-88 loss Wednesday.

“Susi siguro yong sobrang galit ko after Game Two. Everybody’s jolted,” said Reyes.

“We played a lot smarter tonight. We picked the right mismatches and really played well on
defense,” Reyes added.

“We’re very disappointed after Game Two, myself specially after letting a great opportunity to
win slip away,” said TnT point guard Jimmy Alapag.

The Texters recalled the form that made them the elims topnotchers, tearing the Llamados to shreds.

“We essentially limited them to 70 points. Yung score bandang huli garbage points na,” said
Reyes.

“If we’ll able to play defense the same we did tonight, then we have a good chance of going up
3-1. But I’m sure they will comeback strong and we have to be ready,” Reyes added.

The Talk n Text mentor pointed to Alapag’s defense on James Yap as among the key factors.

“Huge credit goes to Jimmy. He defended James Yap very well. With James pretty much covered, dumali rin na ma-contain namin si (Peter June) Simon,” Reyes explained.

Yap and Simon, the Derby Ace’s one-two punch, were held to only two points in the second half.

“It’s about challenge, and I thrive on challenges,” said Alapag.

Offensively, Ryan Reyes, Larry Fonacier, Ali Peek and Jason Castro led the team with at least 11 points each.

Fonacier helped TnT set the tone early as he put in seven points in the first quarter.

“I was kind of passive in the first two games. I went firing as I found good rhythm in this
game,” said Fonacier.

The Texters banked on their reserves’ exploits in making a searing second-quarter attack that
gave them a 49-34 lead at the turn.

Castro and Peek put in eight points each as they led the assault that had the Texters breaking away from a close 25-19 count after the first period.

Talk n Text established command early with a 55.3-percent shooting as against Derby Ace’s
39.3-percent clip in the first 24 minutes of play.

The Texters converted 62.5 percent of their shots in their second-quarter breakaway. (SB)

The scores:

Talk N' Text 92 - Reyes 16, Fonacier 15, Peek 14, Castro 11, Williams 8, Alapag 7, Aban 6, De
Ocampo 6, Dillinger 3, Yee 2, Alvarez 2, Carey 2, Oreta 0, Lao 0.

B-Meg Derby Ace 78 - Pingris 14, Villanueva 11, Allado 10, Canaleta 9, Yap J. 9, Simon 8, Yap R. 8,
Maierhofer 3, Gaco 2, Salvador 2, Reavis 2, Timberlake 0.