TNT recovers from slow start to beat Blackwater
TALK N Text may still be a work in progress but is already offering a glimpse of what it could lethally be.
Blackwater found that out the hard way when the Tropang Texters got their defensive act together in the second half to fashion a 109-98 Wednesday and get back on track in the Smart Bro-PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After struggling in the first half of play TNT unleashed a couple of torrid runs inside the final 24 minutes of play to take the fight out of the Elite and bounce back from a 101-107 loss to sister team NLEX last Friday.
More important, the Texters improved to a 4-2 win-loss slate overall and tied NLEX for fourth-running spot while dropping Blackwater to a 1-5 record.
The way his charges figured out how to make the stops in the second half to raze what was once a 50-56 deficit pleased TNT coach Jong Uichico even more.
“I think they did a better job in the second half defending,” said Uichico, who also related there was more silence than any angry words from him in the team dugout during the halftime break.
“I just asked them why we can’t always defend and then let them absorb for themselves what they were doing wrong. Mabuti naman they figured it out for themselves,” added Uichico.
“But we still have a lot of work to do and defense is our primary concern. Individual defense has to be worked on.”
There were no such problems for TNT in the second half.
James Sena scored on a short jumper to give Blackwater a 61-56 lead, still 8:50 to go in the third period. That would prove to be the Elite’s only points for the next five minutes.
Harvey Carey became the unlikely spearhead of the Texters’ initial run, scattering five points during a 16-0 charge that gave them the lead for good.
The momentum spilled over to the final canto, when it was Jayson Castro scored seven points during a 13-4 exchange that gave TNT its biggest spread at 91-72, a good 7:42 to go in the game.
That was enough to please Uichico. “They still scored 98 points, but that is not indicative naman of how we played as a whole in the second half. Naging free-wheeling na kasi ang laro after that,” he said.
Castro wound up with gamehigh 26 points on top of six assists and four steals with Troy Rosario adding 17 points and eight rebounds and Moala Tautuaa 16 and 10.
John Paul Erram and Carlo Lastimosa each scored 18 points and Jason Ballesteros eight markers and a gamehigh 15 boards for Blackwater, which absorbed a third straight loss and is now in danger of non-inclusion among the top 10 teams advancing to the playoffs.
That scenario seemed a distant possibility when the Elite engaged the Texters in a tight battle through four deadlocks and 11 lead changes, even letting loose their own mini-runs.
Blackwater’s six-point surge put it ahead at 39-33 and Mike Cortez strung up seven straight points to give the team a 51-50 edge at the break.
The scores:
TNT 109 – Castro 26, Rosario 17, Fonacier 16, Tautuaa 16, Crey 11, Rosser 8, Williams 6, Miranda 3, Aban 2, J. Reyes 2, Seigle 2, R. Reyes 0.
BLACKWATER 98 – Erram 18, Lastimosa 18, Dela Cruz 13, Cortez 11, Reyes 9, Ballesteros 8, Cervantes 8, Sena 7, Gamalinda 6, Canada 0, Vosotros 0.
Quarters: 24-24, 50-51, 78-68, 109-98.
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