JAMES Yap won the scoring duel but Jimmy Alapag won the war.

The fierce Talk `N Text guard completed a rare four-point play in the stretch, giving the Tropang Texters the cushion they needed to quell a big Derby Ace uprising in a 98-91 win Sunday night in the opener of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Alapag nailed a booming three-pointer while drawing a foul from Jonas Villanueva with 2:07 left in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series. He then converted the bonus charity that stretched a slim three-point Talk `N Text lead to 94-87.

He finished with a team-high 20 points and put the Tropang Texters ahead in their Final Four match up, 1-0.

His heroics negated a big scoring effort from James Yap, who exploded for a personal
conference-high 36 points as he almost single-handedly carried the fight for the reigning
All-Filipino champions, who played minus starting point guard Roger Yap.

A week long rest definitely gives the Tropang Texters the momentum they needed going into Game 2 of the series that resumes on Jan. 5.

“They (Llamados) just kept coming back and I just told them to relax. Good thing we will have a
week-long break and we will use that to get sharp,” said Chot Reyes, the Talk `N Text mentor.

The Tropang Texters got a big contribution off the bench from Ranidel de Ocampo, who produced 18points – 16 coming in the second quarter – in only his fifth game of the season after undergoing operations two months ago to remove bone spurs in both his feet.

But his best game of the conference almost ended up in drain as Derby Ace rallied back from a
19-point third quarter deficit and was breathing closely to the Tropang Texters, 87-90, when Alapag came through with that dagger four-point play.

Following Alapag’s decisive play, Rico Maierhofer committed a turnover, resulting to an easy Ali
Peak basket that made it a 96-87 Talk `N Text lead with 1:52 remaining.

James Yap then scored the final points of his highest output in the last three years with a
three-pointer at the other end to make it 96-90.

But Peek took away the rebound from Gerwin Gaco following a Kelly Williams miss, rewarding the
Tropang Texters with a fresh 24-second shot clock.

The Llamados then sent Alapag to the foul line to stop the clock. The Talk` N Text guard rounded out the scoring by splitting his charities.

Peter June Simon, the scoring machine who sizzled in Derby Ace’s quarterfinal series win over the Meralco Bolts, was held to 14 points, while Jonas Villanueva only had three.

“We were able to contain Jonas Villanueva and PJ Simon, but we were not able to take care of our lead,” said Reyes.

That lead reached its highest at 66-47 on a pair of free throws from Ryan Reyes with 8:00 left in the third quarter.

The Tropang Texters actually controlled the game early on behind the hot hands of De Ocampo, who knocked in four three-point shots in the second period.

De Ocampo had 10 in a 13-0 Talk `N Text run, erasing an early 20-22 deficit to make it a 33-22
lead.

The Tropang Texters eventually settled for a 54-42 lead at halftime.

The scores

TnT (98) -- Alapag 20, De Ocampo 18, Williams 11, Dillinger 10, Reyes 8, Carey 8, Peek 8, Aban 7,
Castro 6, Fonacier 2.

Derby Ace (91) -- J. Yap 36, Simon 14, Canaleta 11, Maierhofer 7, Timberlake 6, Pingris 6, Gaco 4,
Villanueva 3, Salvador 2, Allado 2, Adducul 0.

Quarterscores: 20-21, 54-42, 73-66, 98-91.