The Talk N Text Tropang Texters came from behind to edge the Alaska Aces, 82-81, Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum in the pivotal Game 5 of their semifinal series in the PBA Fiesta Conference. Talk N Text thus gained a 3-2 lead with a chance to clinch the series and head into the Finals with another win this Sunday. Jason Castro scored the game winner with 18.6 seconds remaining on a gutsy drive to the basket. The Aces had all the chances to grab back the lead and win the game but Joe de Vance and Diamon Simpson failed to score on two successive close-range shots in the face of a tenacious Texters' defense. Castro actually ignited the Texters' charge with a seven-point blast after Alaska took a 59-50 lead nearing the end of the third quarter. Castro and Shawn Daniels scored 18 points each to lead the Texters. Daniels also had 26 rebounds in another impressive display of offensive and defensive might. A day earlier, the Talk N Text management decided to retain Daniels at least for Game 5 with the option to replace him with new recruit Omar Shariff Sneed if his performance takes a dip. Jimmy Alapag contributed 14 points while Ranidel de Ocampo had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Simpson played another monster game for Alaska with 25 points and 31 rebounds. LA Tenorio chipped in 15 points while Tony dela Cruz scored 12 markers. In the other semifinal series, the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados lived to fight another day, beating the defending champion San Miguel Beermen, 88-82, to cut series deficit to 2-3. Import Tony Washam regained his shooting touch, knocking in 12 of the Llamados' last 16 points. He finished with 28 points, including 12-of-13 from the free-throw line. In Derby Ace's last game, Washam was limited to just 12 points. Marc Pingris and Rafi Reavis, Derby Ace's twin towers, both scored a double-double with Pingris draining 17 points on top of 10 rebounds. Reavis chipped in a personal conference-high 16 points plus 13 rebounds. Their heads-up play made up for the lackluster showing of top scorer James Yap who only managed to cough out seven points on 3-of-10 shooting on a day when his estranged wife, showbiz celebrity and presidential sister Kris Aquino, returned to Manila from the United States. The former league MVP averaged 19 points in the first four games of the series. His output on Friday tied his season-low and conference-low record. Roger Yap and June Simon also struggled, combining for only eight points. Paul Artadi came off the bench to score 10 points to fill the void left by the three Derby Ace backcourt stars. Gabe Freeman led San Miguel with 18 points. He hauled down a career-high 25 rebounds. Joseph Yeo, Arwind Santos and Jay Washington chipped in 14 points each for San Miguel.
