ANTIPOLO, Philippines – The import-less TNT gained a huge boost from Terrence Romeo’s near triple-double showing to survive Meralco, 92-90, in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center here on Sunday, August 19. 

Romeo fired 23 points on an 8-of-23 clip to go with 10 assists and 8 rebounds and knocked down a clutch triple that gave the KaTropa – who played without import Mike Glover – enough cushion down the stretch to improve their record to 1-1. 

The Bolts held an 85-82 lead within the final two minutes before TNT erected 8 unanswered points – punctuated with a Romeo trey with 18.2 seconds left – to regain the upper hand, 90-85. 

Meralco trimmed its deficit to 3 points behind Allen Durham’s freebies with 14.2 ticks remaining, 87-90, but Jayson Castro coolly sank his charities as KaTropa held on to the victory despite Durham burying a last-second 3-pointer.

RR Pogoy delivered 19 points, including a tough floater that gave TNT an 87-85 lead, while Castro chipped in 16 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.

Troy Rosario added 13 points and 5 rebounds and Kelly Williams chalked up 7 points and 9 rebounds to compensate for the absence of Glover, who is expected to be replaced. 

Durham frolicked in the paint with a near-triple-double performance of 27 points, 22 rebounds and 8 assists but that did not prevent the Bolts from falling to a 1-1 card. 

Baser Amer had 18 points and Chris Newsome finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the loss.

The Scores

TNT 92 – Romeo 23, Pogoy 19, Castro 16, Rosario 13, Williams 7, Garcia 7, Semerad 3, Golla 2, Tamsi 2, Paredes 0, Carey 0. 

Meralco 90 – Durham 27, Amer 18, Newsome 10, Hodge 9, Canaleta 9, Tolomia 8, Caram 6, de Ocampo 2, Hugnata 1, Salva 0, Sedurifa 0, Lanete 0.

Quarter scores: 23-23, 43-41, 68-61, 92-90.

– Rappler.com