Surges in bunches enabled import-less TNT KaTropa to dismantle woeful Blackwater, 120-101, and regain a share of first place in the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Despite playing without an import, as Jeremy Tyler was sent home packing without a replacement yet, the Tropang Texters still managed to turn in a performance good enough for them to get back on the winning track after tasting defeat in their last outing.
Without an import, the Tropang Texters all joined hands and chipped in well to produce the result they wanted with seven players scoring in double-digits, led by Ryan Reyes’ 18 points.
Troy Rosario had 17 markers, Roger Pogoy scored 15, Jayson Castro and Anthony Semerad fired 14 each, Terrence Romeo struck for 12 and Jericho Cruz chipped in 11 points.
TNT KaTropa slowly but surely imposed its will and picked the Elite apart until it secured victory.
For a start, the Tropang Texers grasped an early 25-20 edge at the end of one.
After an evenly played second frame, TNT had the deciding surge in the third.
The Tropang Texters outscored Blackwater, 35-25, in the third canto to stretch their five-point halftime lead into a sizeable 87-72 spread heading the payoff quarter.
From that point, TNT kept its foot in the gas pedal and made sure there was no way the helpless Elite could threaten, further adding insult to injury in the last 12 minutes.
The victory lifted the Tropang Texters back to a first-place tie with Rain or Shine as the league-leading squads share identical 4-1 cards.
It seems like Blackwater’s sagging remaining chances of cracking the playoffs are becoming more bleak as it remained winless and fell to an abysmal 0-6 record.
The Scores
TALK N TEXT 120—Reyes 18, Rosario 17, Pogoy 15, Castro 14, Semerad 14, Romeo 12, Cruz 11, Trollano 7, Taha 5, Carey 4, Nuyles 2, Garcia 1, Golla 0, Paredes 0, Saitanan 0.
BLACKWATER 101—Erram 16, Zamar 15, Digregorio 14, Palma 12, Famous 11, Belo 11, Cortez 9, Maliksi 6, Sumang 5, Pinto 2, Sena 0, Jose 0.
Quarterscores: 25-20, 52-47, 87-72, 120-101.