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| RR Pogoy exploded for 26 points including five of the KaTropa's eight overtime points. Dennis Acosta |
By Ivan Saldajeno
BIÑAN—The TNT KaTropa stifled the Magnolia Hotshots in the overtime period and hacked out an 80-75 win in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay on Sunday night.
Despite Magnolia leading for majority of the low-scoring and tight contest, TNT got its form just when the team needed it the most.
Down four, 57-61, with 7:18 left in regulation, the KaTropa went on an 8-0 run, the last five points coming from Jayson Castro, to go up, 65-61, with 5:48 remaining.
A triple from Robbie Herndon cut the lead down to one, 65-64, with 4:57 to play in the fourth, triggering the wild regulation finish.
Eventually, Rafi Reavis gave the Hotshots their last taste of the lead at 71-70 after a jumper with 1:25 to play in the fourth.
But Jio Jalalon missed out on giving them a larger breathing room as he only made a split from the free throw line for a precarious 72-70 cushion with 10 seconds left in regulation.
Castro then found Troy Rosario underneath for the one-hander to tie the game up at 72 apiece with 1.7 seconds remaining.
Kelly Williams then forced overtime after he picked Rome Dela Rosa’s inbound pass.
After two free throws from Castro were cancelled by a Reavis field goal to start the additional five minutes, RR Pogoy took over, scoring five straight points to give TNT the lead for good.
Pogoy finished with 26 points with eight rebounds and one assist for the Bong Ravena and Mark Dickel-mentored KaTropa, who moved up to .500 at 3-3, virtually tying the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel for fourth place. The KaTropa own the said position due to the number of wins.
Castro, on the other hand, put up 24 markers, five rebounds, four dimes, one steal, and two blocks.
Herndon made 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting with eight rebounds and one steal for the Hotshots.
Ian Sangalang also flirted with a double-double after making 15 markers and nine caroms with two blocks.
Jio Jalalon even came close to a triple-double, putting up 12 points, eight rebounds, and eight dimes with two steals.
Mike Calisaan made just two points and one rebound in nearly four minutes of play in his PBA debut.
TNT won despite only making 33 percent of its field goals and the starters scoring all but two points as the team forced Magnolia to 20 turnovers, 10 off steals, and made six blocks in total.
The scores:
TNT 80 - Pogoy 26, Castro 24, Rosario 15, Trollano 9, Williams 4, Taha 2, Golla 0, Reyes 0, Heruela 0, Semerad 0, Miranda 0, Casiño 0.
Magnolia 75 - Herndon 16, Sangalang 15, Jalalon 12, Barroca 9, Reavis 8, Dela Rosa 7, Simon 3, Calisaan 2, Pascual 2, Brondial 1, Lee 0.
Quarters: 9-13, 30-32, 49-52, 72-72, 80-75.
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