Even if their reinforcement produced paltry numbers, the locals of the TNT Katropa stepped up, sending the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to their second straight loss, 96-92, Sunday evening at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Katropa now share the top spot of the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup standings with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. Both teams are carrying similar 3-0 win-loss records.
Jayson Castro spearheaded the Texters’ attack with 27 points, with six coming in the game’s final seven minutes, where he led TNT’s 11-1 run for an 89-80 lead with 3:24 left to play.
The Blur also added five assists to his name.
Roger Pogoy provided 15 points, four rebounds, and three dimes, and fellow swingman Don Trollano chipped in 11 markers on 50 percent shooting, along with four caroms.
The shooting guards’ good showings made up for Terrence Romeo’s lackluster outing, as he only contributed three points on 1-of-9 shooting to go with three rebounds and two assists.
“The nice thing having depth in the guard rotation, when some guys struggle, we could use some of the others — today Terrence really struggled eh,” praised TNT head coach Nash Racela.
“Thats something that were trying to do with this team, guys being ready.”
The locals were indeed ready, and their preparedness helped them overcome import Jeremy Tyler’s poor night, as he only had two points. But he made up for it with 15 rebounds.
“I think the stats would not show much. He wasn’t able to practice with us yesterday because we had to confine him to the hospital. There’s something in his stomach,” Racela said in defense “He just checked out early this morning. We were really conscious about limiting his minutes for his recovery. Today he didn’t score that much, get some touches, but he got rebounds.”
Joe Devance and Japeth Aguilar each had 19 points to lead Ginebra in the loss. LA Tenorio had 13 points, including a triple that helped Ginebra close in by four, 93-89, with 20 ticks left.
Import Charles Garcia was not as impressive as he only racked up 15 points and nine rebounds.
TNT will look to go 4-0 against the Alaska Aces next Sunday, May 14, 4:30 PM at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, while Ginebra will aim to end their skid versus the Blackwater Elite on Friday, May 11, 7PM in Biñan, Laguna.
The Scores:
TNT 96 — Castro 27, Pogoy 15, Rosario 14, Trollano 11, Semerad 7, Taha 6, Cruz 5, Paredes 4, Romeo 3, Carey 2, Tyler 2, Garcia 0, Reyes 0.
Ginebra 92 — J. Aguilar 19, Devance 19, Garcia 15, Tenorio 13, Mercado 8, Caperal 7, Thompson 5, Caguioa 2, Ferrer 2, Mariano 2.
Quarterscores: 27-22, 51-51, 73-69, 96-92.
