MANILA — Jayson Castro banged in 23 points and dished out five assists as the Talk N Text Tropang Texters annihilated the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, 83-67, Tuesday night to barge into the semifinals of the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. With perfectly executed plays and tenacious defense, the Texters smothered the Kings on both ends of the court all game long to the dismay of the largely pro-Ginebra fans. The victory avenged the Texters' opening-day loss to Ginebra. Talk N Text held Ginebra to a miserable nine-point output in the fourth period, finishing off the erratic Kings with an 8-0 endgame run to seal the victory. With the win, the Texters advanced to a best-of-seven semifinal series against the San Miguel Beermen beginning Friday. Ranidel De Ocampo added 17 points, five rebounds and two blocks off the bench for Talk N Text while rookie forward Matt Ganuelas-Rosser sparkled for 13 points, four rebounds, three steals and four blocks. Ginebra shot a woeful 29 percent (24-of-83) from the field and committed 15 turnovers amid the airtight Talk N Text defense. LA Tenorio led the Kings with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Joseph Yeo was the other only double-digit scorer with 10, although he only shot 4-of-11 from the floor overall. The twin towers of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar were hardly a factor in the game with Aguilar limited to nine points and 10 rebounds while Slaughter could only produce eight points and three rebounds. Ginebra failed to make it the semifinals for the second straight conference under rookie coach Jeffrey Cariaso. Meanwhile, the Alaska Aces and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters will start their seven-game semifinals series Wednesday. The Aces will try to avenge their bitter loss to the Painters in the elimination round, a defeat that eased Alaska out of the running for the automatic semifinals berth.
