“The experience factor may come into play. If it’s close, I think we have the advantage,” said San Miguel team captain Olsen Racela, at 40 the league’s oldest active player with nine championships tucked under his belt.

“The veterans have the advantage in situation like this because they’ve been there many times; they’ve done that many times,” said Danny Ildefonso, a 13-year league veteran who has fought and won many championship battles with Racela.

The Beermen and the Tropang Texters, squared up with two games each, dispute the pivotal 3-2 lead in their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven title series at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Araneta Coliseum.

San Miguel caught up with Talk n Text following a 103-82 rout in Game Three and a 91-87 decision in Game Four.

“If we can continue what we’re doing, we can go all the way to win the series,” said San Miguel coach Ato Agustin.

“After our Game Three win, I really believed the pressure was already on them. What more now?” added Agustin, in chase of a Cinderalla finish in his first PBA tourney as a bench tactician.

Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes said they have to break San Miguel’s tough defense to stop their skid.

“Obviously, they’ve gotten our number in the last two games. It’s up to us to find a way to score against their defense. They’re playing tremendous D,” said Reyes.

Reyes particularly mentioned Kelly Williams and Ali Peek as the players who should show up.

“Kelly and Ali have taken a vacation. They’re non-existent in the last two games. Maybe, they thought the series was over,” rued Reyes.

“We need to put out these missing persons. We can’t beat San Miguel if they don’t show up,” Reyes added.

The San Miguel big men contained Williams and Peek in the last two games, holding them down to five points in Game Three and to eight in Game Four.

“Kelly and Ali were completely absent in the last two games,” said Reyes.

Racela thought they have figured out how to beat Talk n Text and all they have to do now is sustain it.

The ageless warrior from Ateneo, set to retire at the end of the tourney, wants to finish his playing career on a blaze of glory.

After motivating his team to win Game Three, Racela himself delivered the winning plays as San Miguel Beer drew level with Talk n Text after Game Four.

On Friday, he delivered a touching speech in response to the tribute he got from the SMB franchise, inspiring the team to stop the Talk n Text charge.

Nelson Beltran, Philippine Star