ANTIPOLO – TNT completed the reversal and added to the woes of the struggling Rain or Shine through an 89-85 escape in overtime for its second win in a row in the PBA Philippine Cup, Thursday night at the Ynares Center here.
Poy Erram nailed the go-ahead bucket off a Troy Rosario miss with 49.3 seconds left, and the Tropang Giga made sure that Rey Nambatac and the Elasto Painters wouldn’t respond to register their first win streak of the season.
That shot definitely saved the efforts of Jayson Castro, who scored eight of his 12 points in a fiery 10-0 blitz that tied the game at 78-all late in regulation that eventually led to the second OT game of the season.
“In the fourth quarter, we were able to take shots, and that was our entire focus of this game, to take shots, and we’re not throwing the ball over,” said coach Chot Reyes as his side came back from 16 down in the third.
“So ‘yun, in the fourth quarter, especially in the second half of the fourth, we gave ourselves opportunities, we took shots. And in the end, the players never gave up, we found a way to grind it out,” he added.
Troy Rosario led TNT with 19 points and eight rebounds in the victory that improved the defending champions’ record to 4-2.
Mikey Williams returned in triumphant fashion with 15 points, albeit on 5-of-20 shooting. He drilled four three-pointers, including one with 3:16 left to play that allowed the Tropang Giga to tie the game at 83-all.
Erram finished with 13 and 10, while Roger Pogoy supplied 12 markers in the follow-up to their 78-71 win over erstwhile-unbeaten Meralco last week.
TNT will try to make it three straight against Phoenix Super LPG on Sunday, 4:30 p.m. still at the Ynares Center.
Mike Nieto and Gian Mamuyac carried the fight for Rain or Shine as the former Ateneo Blue Eagles finished with 19 and 18 points, respectively.
Leonard Santilla supplied 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Nambatac added 16 markers as the Elasto Painters lost their fourth straight outing.
RoS will hope to end its skid against the current league leaders San Miguel Beer on Wednesday, June 26, 6:30 p.m. at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The scores:
TNT 89 – Rosario 19, M.Williams 15, Erram 13, Pogoy 12, Castro 12, Khobuntin 5, K.Williams 4, Alejandro 4, Tungcab 3, Cruz 2, Marcelo 0, Heruela 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0, Banal 0.
Rain or Shine 85 – Nieto 19, Mamuyac 18, Santillan 17, Nambatac 16, Torres 6, Belga 5, Norwood 2, Demusis 2, Caracut 0, Borboran 0.
Quarters: 20-17, 37-40, 51-62, 78-78, 89-85
—
All PBA games stream live on GigaPlay. Download it now on Android or IOS.
The second game of each gameday is also live-streamed on SMART Sports.
