The surging Meralco Bolts continue to roll in the 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, as they posted their third straight win at the expense of a Jayson Castro-less TNT Katropa, 94-89, Friday evening at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
TNT played without Castro, who is still nursing a hamstring injury that he had sustained back in the 2017 Philippine Cup Semifinals when facing San Miguel Beermen.
“It’s really good for us to get a good start,” said Meralco head coach Norman Black in their 3-0 start. “It’s a different feeling right now, and it’s mainly because we have a man in the middle.”
That man in the middle is import Alex Stepheson, who led the Bolts’ charge with yet another monstrous double-double outing of 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting, and adding 27 rebounds in the 39 minutes he saw action.
The Bolts once led by 11, 74-63, with less than a minute left in the third canto, but lost hold of it as the Katropa returned and made it a game once more after closing within three, 85-82, after a Lou Amundson one-hander with 3:20 left.
TNT had chances to inch further, but their free throw woes hit them. After Baser Amer made a jumper off the glass, Pogoy tried to take it back, but he missed his foul shots. Jared Dillinger then drained a corner triple on the other end to widen the gap to eight, 90-82, with 1:11 to go.
The remaining minute saw TNT spark a comeback attempt. However, they \could not convert on offense. RR Pogoy’s baskets willed TNT to get nearer, but the Bolts managed to sink their charities to secure the victory.
Amer made his presence felt again, backing up Stepheson with 17 markers on 7-of-14 shooting. Dillinger also chipped in 17 points spiked by three triples, while Reynel Hugnatan and Chris Newsome each had 10.
“Our locals also think that we have a good chance this conference,” added Black.
Lou Amundson made quite a decent debut for TNT, scoring 19 points by going 8-of-19 from the floor. He also added 18 rebounds and two blocks. Pogoy supplied 15, while Ryan Reyes contributed 11.
Free throws were clearly TNT’s problems in the loss, sinking just eight of their 21 shots, far different from the 16-of-26 Meralco made. The latter scored better off second chances, 15-9, but the Katropa’s bench produced more, 34-27.
TNT’s next match will be against Phoenix this Sunday, March 26, 6:45 PM at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, while Meralco will play Rain or Shine on Wednesday, March 31, 7:00 PM at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Scores:
Meralco (94) – Stepheson 20, Amer 17, Dillinger 17, Newsome 10, Hugnatan 10, Faundo 6, Daquioag 5, Hodge 5, Chua 3, Caram 1, Uyloan 0.
TNT (89) – Amundson 19, Pogoy 15, Reyes 11, Fonacier 9, Rosario 6, Tautuaa 6, Rosales 6, Carey 5, Ganuelas-Rosser 4, De Ocampo 3, Williams 3, Tamsi 2, Golla 0, Hernandez 0.
Quarterscores: 22-22, 46-50,74-68, 94-89.
