MANILA – As quickly as they blew away a huge lead, the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters got back their bearings and took control.

Rookie Jared Dillinger scored a career-high 27 points and Jimmy Alapag and Mark Cardona picked up their offensive rhythm in the fourth quarter to spark Talk ‘N Text to a 106-103 victory last night in Game 4 the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series.

The come-from-behind win gave the Tropang Texters a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven duel and moved them within the threshold of making their first Philippine Cup Finals appearance since losing to Barangay Ginebra during the 2004-05 season.

Game 5 will be tomorrow and Game 6, if necessary, will be played Sunday. Both games will also take place at the Cuneta Astrodome.

The Tropang Texters signified their intention to pin the Beermen to the ground by quickly taking control of the match that seemed already over and done with midway in the second quarter.

Dillinger, the second pick overall in last year's draft, was the man of the hour for TNT in the first half.

The rookie hit practically everything he threw in his finest moment as a pro so far that he even outscored the SMB bench at one point in the first quarter.

Dillinger, who combined for a total 23 points in the first three games of the series, accounted for 20 of his teams output in the first half. He went 7-for-9 from the floor including 4-of-4 from the 3-point arc.

The Tropang Texters appeared to be coasting to victory when they erected a 49-31 advantage late in the second quarter on Renren Ritualo's 3-pointer. TNT ended the half with a 57-48 lead.

Alapag then took over where Dillinger left off, scoring all his 18 points in the second half, 16 of them in the fourth. The output of Talk 'N Text’s starting point guard was matched by Cardona, who poured in 10 points in the fourth, while Harvey Carey grabbed 13 rebounds for TNT.

Then Jay Washington, who returned to SMB's rotation a proud father of a six-pound baby boy, made the game exciting in the third quarter.

The athletic forward, who missed Game 3 to be with his wife who was laboring with their first child, scored 14 of his 23 points in the third as the Beermen picked up the pace, gobbled up TNT's huge lead and took the lead at 68-66 by opening the quarter with a 20-9 run.

The lead exchanged hands a couple of times but SMB managed to stay ahead, 81-74, entering the fourth.

But when push comes to shove, Reyes said, TNT's refusal to lose and their ability to stick together enabled them to emerge victorious.

The Beermen, who now face a tough task of winning three in a row to survive, held a 94-92 lead after Dondon Hontiveros sank two free throws with a little over five minutes remaining.

But Jimmy Alapag, the hero of Game 3, answered with a layup then knocked in a three with 3:49 left for a three-point lead the Tropang Texters held on to until the final buzzer.

SMB actually had a chance to tie the game with time winding down but rookie Bonbon Custodio made two bad passes and missed a potential overtime-game-sending triple for the Beermen's final nail in the coffin.*pba.com

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