MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – RR Garcia knocked down clutch buckets down the stretch while Kelly Williams turned in a vintage performance as the TNT KaTropa eked out a 90-85 win over the pesky Kia Picanto in the 2018 PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena Wednesday, January 31.

Kia, which trailed by 8 points with less than 4 minutes left in the game, 77-85, cut its deficit to just two after a 6-0 blitz before Garcia took matters in his own hands and sank back-to-back layups to give TNT an 89-83 cushion with 44 seconds remaining.

Jackson Corpuz had a chance to make it a 4-point game for the Picanto but missed his two freebies as Garcia split his charities with 9 ticks left to secure the win for the Katropa, who improved to 4-3. 

Garcia poured in 10 of his 13 points in the final quarter to go with 5 rebounds while Williams was in his finest form as he registered 23 points on an 11-of-18 shooting on top of 8 rebounds.

Jayson Castro made his presence felt for TNT with 22 markers, 9 rebounds and 5 assists while Roger Pogoy hauled down 12 boards and scored 5 points. 

TNT head coach Nash Racela admitted that while Kia suffered blowout losses in its past few games, he still considered the Picanto a threat because of their unpredictability. 

“A lot of times you go to a game against Kia and people expect a blowout game. especially them having lost, I think two games by 30 plus. But me as a coach, rather than focus on those two blowout losses, I was really focusing on their win against Rain or Shine that’s why I was saying as a team, they are unpredictable and dangerous,” said Racela.

“I don’t think our players got that message for today in this game.”  

The Picanto proved Racela’s intuition right as they held a 62-58 lead late in the 3rd period off an 8-0 blitz until the Katropa answered with an 11-0 salvo,  highlighted by 3 consecutive and-one plays from Norbert Torres, Castro and Pogoy to enter the final frame with a 69-62 lead.

Rashawn McCarthy paced the Picanto, who dropped to their 6th loss in 7 outings, with 21 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds while Corpuz added 17 points and 8 boards. 

The Scores: 

TNT 90: Williams 23, Castro 22, Garcia 13, Torres 7, Semerad 7, Rosario 6, Pogoy 5, Carey 3, Reyes 2, Onwubere 2, Hernandez 0.

Kia 85: McCarthy 21, Corpuz 17, Galanza 9, Camson 8, Yee 7, Khobuntin 6, Lastimosa 5, Escoto 5, Tubid 3, Gabriel 2, Sara 2, Ababou 0.

Quarter scores: 28-24, 42-39, 69-62, 90-85. 

– Rappler.com