TROPANG TNT handed Meralco its first loss with a thrilling 98-95 win on Saturday to grab a share of the lead in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Jayson Castro, snubbed by the fans for a spot in the starting unit in the North Team of the next month’s All-Star Game, proved why he’s still the best guard in the league, leading the Tropang Texters’ charge, while import Mario Little was not much of a factor on offense.
Castro, the two-time Mythical Five member of the International Basketball Federation Asia Championship, finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists, as Tropang TNT joined San Miguel Beer and Mahindra at the top of the standings with identical 2-0 win-loss slates.
Little though had a double-double game with 14 points and 11 rebounds, but it was Castro and new recruit Kris Rosales who provided the spark for Tropang TNT in the match. “Kris has been a good reliever for Jayson,” said Tropang Texters Head Coach Jong Uichico, who is still missing the services of Troy Rosario, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser and Kelly Williams.
Asian import Michael Madanly added 14 markers for Tropang TNT, which was trailing 86-87 when Castro anchored a 12-2 assault for a 98-89 lead with 3:22 remaining.
But the Bolts, behind Chris Newscome and Reynel Hugnatan, answered with a 6-0 run to threaten at 95-98 with 53.4 ticks left in the game. Meralco had the chance the move closer when Newsome drew an offensive foul from Madanly but Allen Durham turned the ball over in the next play.
Cliff Hodge gave the Bolts another shot to send the game in overtime after blocking Castro’s jumper, but Jared Dillinger’s game-tying triple missed the target as time expired. Hodge led Meralco with 18 points, while Dillinger contributed 15. Durham, who averaged 34 points in the first two games, was held down to just 14 points on 6-of-16 from the field.
Veteran guard Jimmy Alapag had 11 points and 12 assists for Meralco, which dropped to 2-1. Meanwhile, GlobalPort is parading a new import when it faces Star on Sunday. Batang Pier tapped Mike Glover, who replaced Dominic Sutton who failed to give the team a win in two starts.
Image credits: Fiba.com