ANTIPOLO CITY, Philippines – TNT staved off Columbian’s late rally to hack out a 101-98 win and stay in the hunt for a twice-to-beat incentive in the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center here on Friday, March 22. 

After back-to-back quiet games that saw him average just 5.0 points, Jayson Castro showed the way for the KaTropa with 20 points, 7 assists and 3 steals off the bench as they won their fifth straight for a 7-3 record.

Phoenix has already locked in on one of the two twice-to-beat bonuses heading into the quarterfinals behind a 9-2 card as TNT, Rain or Shine (8-3) and Barangay Ginebra (5-3) vie for the remaining one. 

Up 101-93 with less than 3 minutes left, the KaTropa looked prime to cruise to the victory until the Dyip narrowed the gap to just 3 points off JP Calvo’s freebies and Rashawn McCarthy’s triple. 

A missed Castro triple with 20 seconds remaining revitalized Columbian’s hopes of forcing overtime but McCarthy missed both of his potential game-tying three-pointers as time expired.

Ryan Reyes and Troy Rosario each had 19 points while Roger Pogoy had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals in the win. 

Also making his present felt for TNT are Kelly Williams, who stuffed the stats sheet with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals, and Brian Heruela, who chipped in 8 points, 6 assists and 2 steals. 

CJ Perez led 5 other Dyip players in double figures with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists but his production was not enough as his side fell to a 4-7 record.

Finishing all of its elimination round games, Columbian will now bank on the results of the remaining games in its bid to make the playoffs of the All-Filipino conference for the first time. 

McCarthy finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists while Eric Camson and Jackson Corpuz delivered 14 and 13 points, respectively, in the loss. 

The Scores

TNT 101 – Castro 20, Reyes 19, Rosario 19, Pogoy 14, Williams 12, Heruela 8, Taha 4, Carey 2, Semerad 2, Washington 1, Cruz 0, Trollano 0, Miranda 0.

Columbian 98 – Perez 22, McCarthy 17, Camson 14, Corpuz 13, Calvo 13, Khobuntin 11, Faundo 4, Reyes 3, Celda 2, Cabrera 0, Escoto 0, Cahilig 0.

Quarters: 20-19, 47-37, 80-67, 101-98.

– Rappler.com