The TNT Katropa have finally regained their true form at the most opportune time as they downed the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 103-96, in Game Two of their 2017 Governor’s Cup semifinal series, Wednesday at the Batangas Coliseum.
The Texters have now leveled the best-of-five bout to 1-1.
“It was really hard especially we only had a day to prepare tapos may biyahe pa… The good thing is the players were able to absorb very quickly and they were able to make the necessary adjustments,” said TNT coach Nash Racela.
Glen Rice, Jr. managed to overcome his five fouls — four in the first half — to lead TNT’s scoring charts with 21 points.
“I think it backfired putting Glen Rice in foul trouble early,” said Racela of Rice, Jr.’s foul trouble. “Because the locals played well in the third quarter and that gave Glen a whole quarter to rest. And so he came out fresh in the fourth.”
Jayson Castro was the forerunner of their well-deployed attack as he supplied 20 points and 10 assists.
TNT waxed hot right from the start with a 31-14 lead in the opening frame, but Ginebra fought back in the second and managed to finally tie the game at 49-all after a Joe Devance’s perimeter jumper to open the third quarter.
The Gin Kings then kept tabs with the Katropa after that, but the latter proved to be too hot to be contained. As a result, TNT managed to post a favorable 97-83 lead after Mo Tautuaa’s putback with 4:02 to go in the final frame.
The Barangay still tried to mount a comeback in the end-game courtesy of Sol Mercado’s back-to-back treys, 96-102, but Levi Hernandez’ split and Mercado’s missed triple were all enough for TNT to go home as winners.
Troy Rosario had 16 points and eight boards for the Katropa. Roger Pogoy scored 14, while Tautuaa provided 10 markers. Both Pogoy and Tautuaa provided the spark off the bench, which supplied 34 points to their total.
Justin Brownlee led the Barangay with 25 points and 10 rebounds. LA Tenorio finished with 17 points, seven boards, and six dimes, while Mercado and Japeth Aguilar each made 14 points, with the latter adding nine caroms.
The Gin Kings’ issue in Game Two was mainly turnovers, as they committed 19, which the Katropa converted to 23 points. Furthermore, Ginebra were also out-ran, for TNT scored 20 — compared to their six points — off the break.
Game Three is set this Friday, October 6, 7:00 PM at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
TNT 103 – Rice 21, Castro 20, Rosario 16, Pogoy 14, Tautuaa 10, Williams 7, Semerad 5, Seigle 4, Chua 2, Reyes 2, Hernandez 1, Nuyles 1, Lingganay 0.
Ginebra 96 – Brownlee 25, Tenorio 17, Aguilar 14, Mercado 14, Slaughter 8, Thompson 8, Cruz 4, Devance 4, Caguioa 2, Mariano 0, Taha 0.
Quarterscores: 31-14, 49-47, 76-69, 103-96.
