The Wutz Up in the Philippines!

A SPECTACULAR inbound pass was all Talk N Text needed to survive Ginebra, 106-105, in a tightly-fought Game 2 of their best-of-five quarterfinals series in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

Jared Dillinger was the hero of the day for the Tropang Texters, which were trailing most of the game before hitting the big shot in the last 3.3 seconds of the game.

Dillinger made a terrific alley-oop basket from Yancy de Ocampo’s inbound pass and lifted the Tropang Texters within a win away from clinching the second to the last semifinals seat.

Bucking a slow start and down by as much as 16 points — 43-59 at the end of the third period — the Chot Reyes-mentored team slowly clawed their way back into the fray in the final quarter to lead their series, 2-0.

Actually, the Gin Kings were leading, 104-102, in the last minute of the final quarter, but Ronald Tubid missed a jumper in the 30.2 mark.

Harvey Carey made a layup from an assist by Jimmy Alapag in the ensuing play to tie the game at 104-all with 25.1 seconds left.

Ginebra tried to push for the win behind JC Intal, but missed a free throw off a foul from Mac Cardona in the last 3.3 seconds to lead by one, 105-104.

Enter Dillinger.

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Games on Thursday
(Araneta Coliseum)
2 p.m. UE vs UP
4 p.m. La Salle vs UST

La Salle fights for dear life on Thursday when it meets University of Santo Tomas in a crucial UAAP basketball tournament game at the Araneta Coliseum.

A regular fixture in the Final Four the past 11 years, except in 2006 when they served out a one-year suspension, the Archers must win this game if they hope to advance to the semifinals.

With a 4-7 record – the fifth best in the eight-team field – a loss would put them out of the Final Four picture while UST advances with its 6-5 mark, towing along with University of the East in the process.

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Games Thursday (Araneta Coliseum)
2 p.m. — Adamson vs FEU
4 p.m. — NU vs Ateneo

Defending champion Ateneo came through in the payoff period, beating stubborn University of Santo Tomas, 80-70, Sunday to become the first team to earn a place in the Final Four in the 72nd UAAP basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

Struggling for most of the contest and bucking early foul trouble, Rabeh Al-Hussaini found enough strength to deliver in the game’s last five minutes as the Blue Eagles secured their ninth victory in 10 games and moved within a victory of claiming a twice-to-beat advantage.

“We’re happy to be in the Final Four but our goal is to get into the top two,” said Ateneo head coach Norman Black.

In the other game, University of the East derailed Far Eastern University’s bid to join the Eagles when the Warriors coasted to an 87-72 win for their sixth win against four losses.

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The hottest ticket in town is, you guessed it, Lady Gaga.

“Parang ginto,” said those manning Ticketnet, Ticketworld and the box-office of the Araneta Coliseum where Lady Gaga’s concert will be staged tonight, produced by Renen De Guia’s Ovation Productions.

The black market must be doing brisk business.

Am I watching the concert? No, I’m not. I already had the rare (once-in-a-blue moon but not really once-in-a-lifetime) chance of watching her “live” in concert in Singapore last June during the promo for her debut album The Fame (released locally by MCA Music, Inc.), plus an exclusive one-on-one to boot.

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Game Today (Araneta Coliseum)
7:00 p.m. — Ginebra vs San Miguel

No team has won back-to-back games in the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup Finals — a trend that should suit defending champion Barangay Ginebra fine if it holds one last time.

Having won Games 1, 3 and 5, the Kings are on track for a major celebration tonight when they go up against the San Miguel Beermen in the winner-take-all Game 7 at the Araneta Coliseum.

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Donaire, Viloria stop foes in world title fights.

MANILA, Philippines—The punches landed as promised.

World flyweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr. Sunday knocked down Mexican challenger Raul Martinez four times to keep his IBO/IBF titles by technical knockout in the fourth round at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

And former World Boxing Council champion Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria was just as impressive, knocking out Mexican Ulises Solis with a crushing right to the jaw in the 11th round to wrest the IBF light flyweight crown.

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Multi-awarded R&B singer Craig David arrived in Manila Thursday morning for his first concert that will be held at the Araneta Coliseum this Friday.

This is Craig’s second visit to the Philippines. He was in Manila years back to promote his album then.

Craig’s Manila concert is in line with the promotion of his “Greatest Hits” album, which is set to be released in Southeast Asia this month.

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MANILA, Philippines—This burly import was simply too much to handle—figuratively and literally.

Built like a truck but as mobile as a sports car, Jai Lewis drained some of the most important points for Rain or Shine Wednesday night that keyed a 118-112 triumph over Burger King which extended the Elasto Painters’ win streak to four games in the Motolite PBA Fiesta Cup elimination round at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

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MANILA, Philippines - The team from Down Under is expected to bring to the surface the deep-training Philippine national squad.

A 6-foot-10 center and two 6-foot-9 forwards banner an Australian selection flying in on April 2 for a pair of goodwill games against the FIBA Asia-bound national team at the Araneta Coliseum. [Read Full Story]

Following their reconciliation, Gabby Concepcion revealed that he and former wife, Sharon Cuneta, have talked face-to-face for the first time after their bitter separation more than a decade ago.

An ABS-CBN.com report said the two were seen together inside the ABS-CBN compound Monday night, happily chatting with each other like old times.

The report said Concepcion decided to pay her a visit on the set of her show, “Sharon,” while the actor was taping for the Kapamilya network’s summer station ID.

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