Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA – Playing like there's no tomorrow, the Talk N Text Tropang Texters walloped their sister team Meralco Bolts, 108-84, Wednesday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum to keep their hopes alive of contending for the championship of the 2012 PBA Governors' Cup. With their first victory in the semifinals, the Texters improved to a 6-5 win-loss card but still need to win their three remaining games to stay alive. “We have no choice but to win our remaining games," TNT coach Chot Reyes said after the match. “We're in a situation of one miss and you die and we will be playing three very tough teams – Petron, Rain or Shine and Ginebra. We know it's very hard, but as long as we're alive, there's hope. We just have to continue fighting." The Texters fought with a grim determination right from the start, jumping to a 31-12 lead in the first quarter. The also-rans Bolts could only put up a semblance of a fight as the Texters kept their sizzling runs until the final buzzer. The Bolts thus suffered their third straight loss for a 4-8 slate. The win also avenged TNT's 99-105 loss to Meralco when they met last May 23 in the eliminations. But that was when the Texters were still without key players in Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Ryan Reyes and Kelly Williams. Bouncing back from a so-so game last Saturday against B-Meg, Ranidel de Ocampo knocked in all his three-pointers and finished with a team-best 24 points. Japeth Aguilar also played his best game in the conference, adding 20 points and 10 rebounds. Jimmy Alapag chipped in 12 points while Kelly Williams had 11. Williams also set a personal record as he became the 35th PBA player to grab 2,000 defensive rebounds. Import Paul Harris added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Texters. Mario West led the Bolts with 21 points.
