Needing to get out of their funk, the TNT Katropa completed a second half turnaround and thwarted an inspired Blackwater Elite squad, 92-83, to finally lay their two-game slump to rest, Wednesday evening at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Both squads now sport identical 2-2 cards after the match, creating a six-way logjam with the Phoenix Fuel Masters, Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, NLEX Road Warriors, and Alaska Aces in the team standings.
“Our rotation messed up in the first half, good thing we recovered in the second half,” shared Katropa head coach Nash Racela of their slow start. “Going into this game, we knew that we gonna have a hard time against Blackwater.
“We knew that it’s not gonna be easy getting a victory over them. It would take our absolute best and they really able to challenge us, especially in the second half. [Good thing] our shots started to fall,” added the tactician.
Roger Pogoy top-billed for the Texters with 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor along with eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Jayson Castro, had 17 markers on top of five boards, three dimes, two steals, and two blocks.
The Katropa trailed for the majority of the first 24 minutes, but it all changed come the third canto, where they unloaded an overwhelming 16-3 run — ended by Rosario’s lay-up — to take a 60-53 lead with 2:56 left in the quarter.
TNT then never relinquished their position in the driver’s seat, even leading by as much as 17 points, 76-59, after RR Garcia’s open triple from the right wing with 8:51 in the final period.
The Elite still tried to come back through a 20-9 rally led by Mike Cortez and Poy Erram to knock within six, 79-85, but Castro’s three-point play conversion sent TNT to an 88-79 lead with 1:04 left and proved to be the game-sealing dagger.
Garcia finished with 12 points for TNT, who shot 41.6 percent from the floor. Anthony Semerad had 11, while Troy Rosario flirted with a double-double of nine markers and 11 boards. Mo Tautuaa grabbed 15 caroms and scored six.
The Elite shot just 38.8 percent after shooting 42.6 percent in the 94-77 win over Ginebra last Friday. They were led by Erram with 20 points and eight rebounds, and Cortez with 14 markers, on top of five boards and three assists.
Mac Belo, after averaging 20 markers in the last three games, finished with just nine markers on 4-of-18 shooting. He made up for it with 13 rebounds. Main gunner Allein Maliksi also scored nine on 4-of-15 shooting.
TNT will look to post another win against sister team Meralco Bolts on Sunday, January 21, 4:30 PM at Ynares Center in Antipolo, while Blackwater will aim to bounce back versus the GlobalPort Batang Pier on Friday January 19 4:30 PM at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The Scores:
TNT 92 – Pogoy 24, Castro 17, Garcia 12, Semerad 11, Rosario 9, Williams 6, Tautuaa 6, Reyes 2, Golla 0, Onwubere 0, Carey 0.
Blackwater 83 – Erram 20, Cortez 14, Digregorio 9, Belo 9, Maliksi 9, Jose 7, Sumang 5, Marcelo 4, Sena 4, Pinto 2, Cruz 0.
Quarterscores: 15-16, 36-43, 65-57, 92-83.
