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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
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04
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23
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2024
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SERVICES
THE INQUIRER COMPANY
04
23
2024
JAYSON Castro can hurt a team in more ways than one and he just proved it again Wednesday.
Castro drove hard to draw the defense before kicking out to a wide-open Ranidel de Ocampo for the game-winning basket that enabled TNT KaTropa to escape with a 122-120 win over a gritty GlobalPort squad in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Before his eighth assist of the game Castro also scattered a teamhigh 37 points, fueling the Texters’ early surge and holding the team together in the face of a furious fightback by the Batang Pier, who refused to give up despite an early 24-point deficit.
GlobalPort actually had the chance to at least tie it. But Stanley Pringle ruined a splendid second half by issuing a pass to Jay Washington that proved too hard and went out of the baseline, giving final possession back to TNT.
In the end, the tournament-leading Texters emerged with their seventh win in eight games, further fanning their chances of grabbing a top four slot and a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals that comes with such a finish.
TNT coach Jong Uichico was simply glad his team managed to elude a monumental collapse and a second straight loss following a 104-107 defeat to Mahindra last Friday.
“We needed this win anyway, anyhow and we move on to the next,” said Uichico, whose team still has to tackle defending champion San Miguel Beer, Star and Barangay Ginebra to end the 11-game eliminations.
The loss cut short GlobalPort’s winning run at three and dropped it into a three-way tie for eighth-running spot with idle NLEX and Alaska, both of which are among the Batang Pier’s remaining elims assignments.
Mike Glover wound up with a PBA career-high 38 points along with 18 rebounds while Terrence Romeo added 33
points and seven assists and Pringle 25 markers, 18 coming in the second half.
De Ocampo finished with 17 points, reliever Larry Fonacier 14 and an equally crucial play in the waning seconds, Ryan Reyes 11 and Michael Madanly 10 for TNT.
The biggest hero was clearly Castro, whose output, just seven off his career-high, was anchored on a 12-
for-22 field shooting. He also had just two turnovers in a little over 37 minutes of action.
Castro also drained six triples, but the one play that stuck in Uichico’s mind was how his ace playmaker followed their final gameplan to the letter. “That last play, read na lang ni Jayson and it so happened na Ranidel was open,” he said.
Glover actually scattered 13 of his points and Romeo 11 of his in the fourth period, stoking GlobalPort’s fightback from a 97-110 deficit.
Pringle’s back-to-back drives, the last off his own steal, tied the count for only the first time at 120-all, 41.9 ticks left.
That was when TNT’s experience and coordination once again kicked in.
Castro missed a triple try, but Fonacier was there for the offensive board before slamming the ball off Washington to secure another possession by the Texters in the final 18.4 seconds.
Such a tight finish was far from the TNT supporters’ collective mind when the team surged to a 46-22 spread before taking the half 70-52.
That was the biggest first half for the season by any team and largely made possible by Castro’s 22 points.
But, as it turned out, GlobalPort was far from finished, clawing its way back to within eight points before settling for an 86-96 count after the third quarter.
“Bumaligtad iyung laro, e. GlobalPort can really score, especially when Pringle and Romeo get it going,” said Uichico. “We also fell into a lull in the offense in the latter part.”
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