MANILA – TNT KaTropa halted Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ winning run with a 100-92 victory in the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup after toppling, 100-92, last night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Jeth Troy Rosario and Jayson Castro led the way with 20 points apiece, while Ilonggo Jericho Cruz added 15 markers for the KaTropa, which tallied its second straight win for a 4-3 record.
After falling behind early in the first frame, the KaTropa had a huge run in the second period behind Castro, Rosario and Cruz to turn a 23-26 deficit to a 56-39 spread at the half.
The KaTropa were still up 72-58 midway in the third period when the Painters came up with a huge run behind Maverick Ahanmisi and Beau Belga to cut the deficit to 64-73 late in the period.
The KaTropa, however, started strong anew in the fourth to push the lead to 91-74 on triples by Ryan Reyes and Castro but the Painters countered with a run to trim the deficit to 89-95 on back-to-back treys by Rodolfo Alejandro.
The Painters pulled even closer at 91-95 with 32 seconds left on an acrobatic layup by James Yap, but consecutive free throws from Castro pushed KaTropa’s lead back to eight points.
Yap finished with 18 points, while Ahanmisi and Alejandro added 14 and 11 markers, respectively, for the KaTropa, which saw its five-game winning run snapped to slid down to second with 7-2 slate.
In the second game, Alaska Aces got back on the winning track after a lopsided 104-78 victory over the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings.
Simon Enciso led the way with 23 points, while Chris Banchero added 20 for the Aces, which improved to 3-2. Japeth Aguilar had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings (3-3)./PN
