TNT veteran playmaker Jayson Castro asked for an isolation play and attacked the defense of young Magnolia young counterpart Jed Mendoza. He then banged in a clutch jumper from the free throw line with 40.6 seconds left, just when the Magnolia Hotshots were trying to mount a last-ditch fightback yesterday.
With Castro getting the much-needed support, the Tropang Giga turned back the Hotshots 98-93 for a crucial sixth win overall and advanced to the quarterfinals of the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
Castro’s basket pushed TNT’s lead to 97-88 but the ever stoic Tropang Giga star refused to celebrate, aware that Magnolia could still pull the rug from under the charges of coach Chot Reyes.
Sure, the Hotshots tried, but they just fell short in the endgame.
“First of all, the most important thing in this game was the fight and the effort of the players coming off a very painful loss the last time to come in with a lot of courage to play a very strong Magnolia team,” Reyes said, referring to his charges’ stunning 103-107 loss to the Converge FiberXers five nights back. “In terms of the areas of growth, it’s no secret I talked about our need to play a complete 48-minute game. All our games, whether we won it or lost it, we were down 16 or 15 points.
“I think this was the first game I can recall that we were not down by a double-digit margin and that’s the area of growth we want to achieve. How can we play at a level consistently where we don’t dig ourselves into a hole,” he added.
Kelly Williams notched 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists for TNT, while Castro had 18 markers, four boards and seven dimes.
Brian Heruela also had 13 points, while Calvin Oftana and Jewel Ponferrada also had 12 and 10, respectively, as the Tropang Giga finished the eliminations with a 6-5 mark.
The Hotshots, coming off a 108-100 triumph over the Terrafirma Dyip last Friday, wound up with a 6-5 record like their tormentors.
TNT zoomed to a 47-36 edge at the halfway mark and stretched it to as much as 58-40 on a Kib Montalbo floater with 9:23 remaining in the third canto.
The Tropang Giga still enjoyed an 80-65 edge heading into the payoff period.
A Mark Barroca three-pointer pulled Magnolia to within 93-98 in the last 23 ticks but that stood as the final count as TNT held its ground.
Barroca paced the Hotshots with 22 points and two caroms, while Ian Sangalang had 21 and seven.
Aris Dionisio also got 14 markers and seven rebounds for Magnolia.
