A LITTLE tinkering did a lot of good for TNT, especially to its usual leader on court.
Jayson Castro came up big on both ends in overtime, enabling the KaTropa to withstand the absence of head coach Nash Racela and snap out of their rut with a hard-earned 118-114 victory over Columbian Sunday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Regaining his lethal form of old, Castro finished with a team high 25 points he laced with the go-ahead triple and his harassment of Dyip import Akeem Wright led to a turnover by the latter that led to TNT protecting its 117-114 lead.
When Russell Escoto got called for successive delay of game violations and slapped a technical, Castro then iced the game with the charity for the final count that ended TNT's three-game slide and improved its record to 2-4.
Making the win more impressive is the fact it was fashioned minus head coach Nash Racela, who reportedly went on indefinite leave following the KaTropa's 82-112 beatdown from Phoenix last Friday.
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"Magkasama pa kami last night and kanina tinext pa niya ako, to go into the game with confidence," related acting head coach Eric Gonzales.
"Ang hindi niya alam, dine-dedicate ko sa kanya panalong ito," added Gonzales as he now looks forward to further whipping the team up during its long break that coincides with the league break for the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
"Marami pang dapat trabahuhin sa team," admitted Gonzales.
Good thing there was Castro, who started for the first time in the conference and made half of his 16 shots to atone for his scoreless game against Phoenix. He also got seven assists and six rebounds to boot.
Terrence Romeo, whose drive made it a 117-115 count, wound up with 22 points, Roger Pogoy added 16 and Anthony Semerad 15 points in helping make up for the 11-point performance by Stacy Davis in probably his last game as TNT import.
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Gonzales said the best person to ask is team manager Virgil Villavicencio, but did let on that there are possible candidates, one of whom could be flown in before TNT faces Rain or Shine next on Sept. 22.
The loss was the fifth in as many games for Columbian, notwithstanding the sterling effortrs of Jerramy King, Wright, Rashawn McCarthy and even Escoto.
King notched 26 points and nine rebounds, Wright 24 points, nine rebounds and as many assists, McCarthy 18 points and Escoto 15 markers and 10 boards.
It was Escoto's undergoal stab off a Wright feed that that knotted the count at 107 and forced OT.
Then Pogoy sandwiched a King trey with five points of his own and, after the latter connected on a putback for the last tie at 112, Castro struck with his straightaway triple that pushed TNT ahead for good 115-112.
Gonzales' new moves were displayed right in the first half when he opted for an all-Filipino starting crew and made the so-called platoon substitutions of old. Davis was fielded in only at the final 3:28 mark of the opening quarter.
The ploy seemed to have worked as TNT made seven of its first 10 shots, including a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc, to lead by 22-9, before stretching it to 16 in the second before settling for a 61-48 count at the break.
Columbian proved far from done, however.(NC)
The scores:
TNT 118 - Castro 25, Romeo 22, Pogoy 16, Semerad 15, Davis 11, Garcia 9, Rosario 7, Williams 4, Trollano 3, Cruz 2, Paredes 2, Carey 2, Reyes 0, Golla 0.
Columbian 114 - King 26, Wright 24, McCarthy 18, Escoto 15, Camson 6, Lastimosa 6, Ababou 5, Khobuntin 4, Gabriel 4, Cabrera 3, Reyes 2, Sara 1, Cahilig 0.
Quarters: 40-26, 61-48, 84-77, 107-107, 118-114.
