Troy Rosario’s end-game heroics saved TNT from the upset bid of a hungry NorthPort Batang Pier on Wednesday evening.
The KaTropa had lost hold of an early 13-point lead and went down by nine, 67-76, early in the final frame. So the sweet-shooting 6-foot-7 forward took it upon himself to provide on offense.
Rosario poured 17 markers in the period alone, including a triple that gave his side the 101-100 lead with 1:06 to go. He then made his freebies with 1.7 seconds left to give TNT the 103-100 victory.
The forward finished with 22 points on a 57.1-percent clip from the field
“Kailangan ako ng team,” said the four-year pro.
“I think five points lang ako sa first three quarters, so kailangan kong bumawi.”
Thanks to Rosario, TNT have solidified their grip on the top spot of the team standings with a clean 5-0 card. Despite their run, though, they are far from satisfied due to their defense.
Defense has been an issue of the KaTropa in their last three games, including Wednesday’s. They have allowed the opposition to score an average of 113.7 points.
This, after holding their opponents to just 99.0 points in their first two assignments in the season-ending meet.
“Depensa talaga. Marami kaming breakdowns,
“Nanalo kami sa mga games, pero ‘yung depensa namin, pinapayagan namin ‘yung mga kalaban namin maka-score ng more than one hundred points. Para sa amin, no-no iyon,” he added.
For Rosario, despite his heroics, it was defense that won the game for TNT, as shown by how they prevented NorthPort from scoring in the final moments.
So now, the National University product hopes that they can address that issue as soon as possible.
“‘Yung last two minutes, kami nanalo sa depensa kaya kami naka-score,” said Rosario. ”
“‘Yung game na ito, pag-aaralan namin [at sana] ma-improve namin coming into the next game.”
