Purefoods wins in mighty comeback over Talk 'N Text

14 Dec 2008

James Yap bucked an early foul trouble to finish with 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting and Enrico Villanueva tallied his league-leading 9th double-double, leading the Purefoods TJ Goants to a stirring 96-93 win in the 2008-2009 KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

"It was big considering the circumstances we're in. We're coming off back-to-back sorry losses and we had to overcome a big deficit here. It's nice to win again," said Gregorio on the crucial win coming after successive defeats to Rain or Shine and Sta. Lucia Realty.

"Everything is not yet lost. Hopefully, we can continue to compete and make the Top Five," added Gregorio whose team jacked up their record to 8-9.

The win, as slim as it may, kept their outright quarterfinal hopes alive.

Kerby Raymundo added 14 points for the Giants.

Mark Cardona, the league's leading scorer, scored 30 points, issued 6 assists and had 4 steals to lead the Tropang Texters. Jason Castro added 21 points and 5 rebounds and Yancy de Ocampo 16 points and 9 boards.

Scores:

Purefoods 96 -- Yap J. 25, Villanueva 24, Raymundo 14, Lanete 9, Robinson 9, Alvarez 6, Yap R. 5, Belga 4, Alonzo 0, Aban 0.

Talk n Text 93 -- Cardona 30, Castro 21, De Ocampo 16, Carey 8, Dillinger 6, Alapag 3, Allado 3, Aljamal 2, Peek 2, Ritualo 2.

Quarterscores: 14-24, 35-48, 63-72, 96-93