CJ Cansino landed the haymaker to help Meralco put down TNT, 101-90, to tie things up at two games apiece in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, Wednesday.
The sophomore guard finished with 17 points, none more important than the four-pointer he knocked down under duress for the 97-90 lead with 1:21 to go, effectively stopping the Tropang 5G and their comeback from 11 down.
Javee Mocon scored off a cleanup, before Cliff Hodge converted a tough layup off a strong drive to the cup as the troika put together an 8-0 run to finish the bout, pushing the all-MVP Group series to a virtual best-of-three.
(C) PBA Images
That strong closeout also enabled the squad to give new import Patrick Gardner a winning debut. The American-Egyptian forward finished with 20 points — spiked by three triples — and 13 rebounds before fouling out with 3:26 left.
“They found their rhythm there, even with Patrick fouling out,” lauded head coach Luigi Trillo of the poise his charges showed. “I thought we did a good job as a team keeping our poise not only on offense, but defense as well.”
Mocon notched a double-double of his own with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Aaron Black made 12 points while Chris Newsome added 11 markers as the star guard got help from all fronts after being the lone bright spot in the last game.
“Mas natuto lang kami sa past games namin. And ‘yung composure namin mas kailangan pa naming diinan pa, kasi ganu’n palagi nagiging problema namin eh,” said Cansino, who averaged just 8.3 points in the first three games.
(C) PBA Images
By giving TNT a dose of its own medicine with a dagger of its own down the stretch, Meralco also spoiled the PBA return of Chris McCullough.
The former Commissioner’s Cup champion with San Miguel did finish with 24 points and nine rebounds, but struggled with a 7-of-22 clip from the field.
Jordan Heading had 15 points. Roger Pogoy and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser had 14 apiece while Calvin Oftana added 10 markers in the loss.
Pogoy himself capped off the 10-2 run that cut a 91-80 deficit to 93-90 through a corner triple with 2:51 to go, giving flashbacks of what he did back in Game 3, when he hit the game-winning three for the 75-77 result.
But Cansino responded with the booming 27-footer, which took the wind out of the Tropa’s sails as they failed to convert a bucket until the end.
Game 5 is on Friday, still at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
Meralco 101 – Gardner 20, Cansino 17, Mocon 13, Black 12, Newsome 11, Hodge 8, Banchero 8, Brickman 6, Quinto 4, Almazan 2.
TNT 90 – McCullough 24, Heading 15, Pogoy 14, Ganuelas-Rosser 14, Oftana 10, Castro 8, Galinato 4, Nambatac 0, Enciso 0, Aurin 0, Khobuntin 0, Quitevis 0.
Quarterscores: 32-23, 50-48, 73-71, 101-90.
