ANTIPOLO -- Glen Rice Jr. flirted with a triple-double job with 43 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists and powered TNT KaTropa past Star and its new import Kris Acox, 104-99, to further enhance their Top Four bid in the PBA Governors Cup elims at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo last night.
Rice made two clutch field goals and two charities in the last 51 seconds to cap his big game carrying TNT to a third straight win and seventh in 10 games in all that tied them with NLEX at third place, just a game behind Barangay Ginebra (8-2) and half-game adrift Meralco (7-2).
At 7-3, the Texters have a shot at playoff top seeding.
The Texters and the Kings figure in a virtual do-or-die battle for first place on Saturday.
"We knew going to our last four games that it's gonna be a tough stretch for us. We're going up and down, but the most important thing is we're finding ways to win," said TNT coach Nash Racela.
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"It benefited us that they (the Hotshots) changed import at this time of the conference. That's the reason they started slow," Racela also said.
The Hotshots picked up a good rhythm in the fourth quarter but fell short in their comeback bid and thus dropped to joint fifth with Rain or Shine at 5-4.
They waged a chase interestingly with their new import confined on the bench. Acox finished with 18 markers and the same number of rebounds.
Rice personally held off the Hotshots with a sidestepping drive off Ian Sangalang then a one-hander off Acox to make it 102-96 with time down to 26.4 seconds.
After Paul Lee answered with a trey to make it a three-point game, Rice sank two pressure-packed free throws as the Texters eventually finished off the Hotshots.
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Roger Pogoy, Troy Rosario and Jason Castro shared the load with Rice early on as the Texters led by as many as 17 at 89-72.
The Texters scored the first eight points of the contest and sat on a 51-45 cushion at the half.
They made it 89-75 at the end of the third, but then the Hotshots mounted a rally, threatening within two at 91-93 with still over four minutes left to play.
But there's no stopping the Texters in the end.
Racela made special mention of Rosario and Pogoy whom he lauded "for playing like true warriors."
"They played hurt and helped us a lot," said Racela.
