JAYSON Castro nailed a big trey down the stretch and TNT avoided the same fate suffered at the hands of Converge in their first-round duel, pulling through with a 98-91 win in their rematch Sunday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Beaten by a four-point dagger from Scotty Hopson, 96-95, in their previous tiff, the Tropang Giga faced imminent slip once again but escaped on Castro's three-point bomb.
The Tropang Giga had squandered a 20-point lead and were just leading by two, 93-91, when Castro drained the bail-out trey and carried the team back to joint PBA Governors' Cup Group A lead with Meralco at 5-1.
The FiberXers failed to complete what could've been a second come-from-behind win versus the Tropa and dropped to 2-4.
Castro finished with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists, with the second of his three-pointer in the night preserving the sterling effort put in by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Rey Nambatac, Calvin Oftana and RR Pogoy early on.
Sponsored content:
"RHJ" continued to buck a slight ankle sprain and came through with a solid all-around game with 21 markers, 10 boards and seven rebounds.
Nambatac went 4-of-4 from beyond the arc and wound up with 17 markers plus three rebounds as Oftana collected 14 points, nine boards and three dish-offs and Pogoy added 12.
Nambatac, Oftana and Castro accounted for eight of the 11 three-pointers by TNT, a key factor in the Tropang Giga's early breakaway.
Kim Aurin, Nambatac and Pogoy combined for five treys while Hollis-Jefferson struck heavily from around the basket, counting two "and-one" plays, as the Tropa took the first quarter at 36-18.
They kept a huge spread at the half, 58-39, before the FiberXers started their slow chase in the third, peaking up in the fourth until they came within two with over 80 seconds left to play.
Sponsored content:
After Castro's deadly triple, Alec Stockton committed an error to further stymie their bid. And there's no denying the Tropang Giga of redemption in the end.
Justin Arana top scored for the FiberXers with 16 as Schonny Winston logged 15 markers and 13 assists.(SB)
The Scores :
TNT 98 - Hollis-Jefferson 21, Nambatac 17, Oftana 14, Castro 14, Pogoy 12, Erram 5, Payawal 5, Aurin 5, Khobuntin 3, Heruela 2.
CONVERGE 91 - Arana 16, Winston 15, Stockton 15, Hopson 13, Ambohot 12, Delos Santos 8, Santos 7, Cabagnot 4, Racal 1, Nieto 0, Vigan-Fleming 0, Andrade 0.
QUARTERS: 36-18, 58-39, 78-67, 98-91
