QUEZON CITY, Metro Manila — With head coach Chot Reyes back in the saddle, Talk ‘n’ Text spilled San Miguel Beer’s bid for a comfortable 3-1 lead and instead reset their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)’s Philippine Cup best-of-seven finals series at 2-2 before a sellout crowd Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Pasay City with a convincing 100-87 victory.

With Reyes calling the shots, Tropang Giga cleaned up its turnovers this time, registering an all-time low in miscues in Game 4 of the best-of-seven title series in the country’s premier league and one of a
Asia’s first.

In TNT’s two losses, Reyes was not around as he was fulfilling his commitment with Gilas Pilipinas in another failed campaign in the Fédération Internationale de Basket-ball Amateur (FIBA) World Cup Asian qualifiers.
Averaging 21.5 turnovers in their back-to-back losses, TNT recorded an astonishing three turnovers to avoid falling into a dangerous 1-3 quagmire that could have stacked the odds against them and dash hopes of grabbing the All-Filipino championship title.

Their victory tied their best-of-seven title series with SMB at two all.

Once again Jayson Castro gave a sterling performance for the defending champions TNT — drilling a finals-high 26 points on top of six rebounds, four assists, and three steals as a fitting welcome to their coach.

Teammate Roger Pogoy likewise contributed hugely to the TNT win with 21 points to mark the fourth straight game he has scored at least 20 markers. Mikey Williams also helped by shooting 11 of his 15 points in the first half.

June Mar Fajardo led the Beermen but fell just a rebound short of his second consecutive 20-20 after putting up 27 points and 27 rebounds in Game 3.

The Scores:

Talk ‘n’ Text (100) –

Castro 26, Pogoy 21, M. Williams 15, K. Williams 14, Erram 8, Khobuntin 7, Montalbo 3, Rosario 2, Marcelo 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Reyes 0, Alejandro 0.

San Miguel (87) –

Fajardo 20, Enciso 15, Lassiter 14, Perez 13, Tautuaa 13, Cruz 6, Brondial 3, Ross 2, Manuel 1, Herndon 0, Pessumal 0.

Quarters:

18-9, 43-36, 72-63, 100-87.