There's no grand slam for San Miguel Beer, and there's no PBA Governors Cup title repeat for Magnolia Pambansang Manok.
TNT KaTropa scuttled Magnolia's title-retention bid, with Jayson Castro and his teammates gallantly fighting back from 15 points down early in the fourth quarter and stealing a 98-97 victory to advance to the last four of the season-ending tourney Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The KaTropa were still down by nine entering the last two minutes, but Castro, KJ McDaniels and Troy Rosario teamed up in a big 9-0 salvo, and Bobby Ray Parks came through with a big play in the last seven seconds in a dramatic victory sending TNT to the semifinals versus Meralco.
McDaniels poured in 25 points, hauled down 17 rebounds and sealed his heroics with a block on the last offensive thrust by Magnolia import Romeo Travis.
And with 1.1 ticks to go, the Hotshots were no longer able to run a decent play, thus, seeing the end of their reign in this tourney they won over the Alaska Milk Aces last year.
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Castro proved to be a big, big key for TNT in his return from sickbay.
He fired away a trey, canned in two free throws and scored on a breakaway layup from a steal to highlight a 30-point game and TNT's searing fightback at the finish.
From a deficit as big as 18, the KaTropa, after a long, lonely chase, pulled even at 96 on a booming trey by Troy Rosario with 32 seconds left.
Then Magnolia had its last taste of the lead on a split from the line by Travis with 15.9 ticks to go.
From a timeout, the KaTropa ran a play where Castro missed on a drive. But Parks was in the right place at the right time, grabbing the loose ball and drawing a foul from Rafi Reavis.
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A winner in college play and in the ABL, Parks made a huge contribution right in his first PBA playoff game, draining the charities that pushed TNT ahead to stay.
It was a heartbreaker for the Hotshots, who took control most of the way as they outsmarted and outplayed the KaTropa through the first three quarters.
But they failed to weather the TNT siege and thus relinquishing the throne. (SB)
