Texters’ win forces 5-way tie for lead

Jayson Castro exploded for 33 points and completely took over the game in the final minutes as Talk n Text turned back Star, 91-86, to make it a five-way tie on top in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup at the Quezon Convention in Lucena City last night.

Challenged in a fierce shootout by Justin Melton in the first three quarters, Castro stepped up further in the homestretch and propelled the Tropang Texters to a third straight win following earlier victories over Mahindra and Meralco.

Castro, the reigning back-toback FIBA Asia best guard, drained three-pointers, scored on attacks and made key stops in a superb allaround game carrying TNT to joint first with Alaska Milk, Rain or Shine, Globalport and SMB at 3-1.

Once again denied a second straight win, the Hotshots, on the other hand, dropped to seventh place at 2-3 with the loss to the Texters in their Petron-sponsored out-of-town tussle.

Meanwhile, San Miguel seeks to break off the heavy jam atop the leaderboard as it faces Barangay Ginebra in a colossal battle at the Philsports Arena today.

The Beermen and the Gin Kings, with their elite centers Junmar Fajardo and Greg Slaughter, meet in a highly anticipated match at 5:15 p.m., after the 3 p.m. contest between Barako Bull and Meralco.

Fajardo is A-OK, fully recovered from a foot injury while Slaughter is at his best in his third season in the league, providing an interesting subplot in the SMB-Ginebra showdown.

“Greg vs Junmar is always exciting, but we have to make sure we don’t stand around and watch those two play,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

“We need to get a better balance in our scoring and more production from the bench,” he added.

San Miguel coach Leo Austria has the same thing in mind.

Slaughter started his third season in the pros with monstrous averages of 27.3 points and 20.3 points in three games. Fajardo had his double-double averages of 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Castro went 5-of-9 from the arc and 12-of-24 overall from the field as he sparkled versus the Hotshots in their Lucena tiff.