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[av_heading tag=’h3′ padding=’10’ heading=’Katropa rips Bolts, nears PBA Comm’s Cup semis ‘ color=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ custom_font=” size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ custom_class=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Tuesday, June 6, 2017
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MANILA – TNT Katropa fended off a second half run by Meralco Bolts to win, 102-84, in Game 1 of the 2017 Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-three quarterfinals on Monday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Katropa can bag a semifinal slot if it dominates Game 2 of the series Wednesday night.
Jayson Castro led the way with 25 points, six rebounds and seven assists for Katropa, while reinforcement Joshua Smith added 19 markers, and Moala Tautuaa and Kelly Williams contributed 13 and 10 points, respectively.
TNT got off to a hot start on consecutive baskets from Castro and Tautuaa for a 24-8 advantage. But Meralco answered with five straight points to trim the deficit to 25-13.
Bolts continued its run early in the second quarter to come to within eight points on a Joseph Yeo basket, but Katropa pulled away once again behind Tautuaa, Smith and Roger Pogoy for a 42-27 halftime lead.
Meralco had another surge in the third frame and came to as close as 53-51, but TNT got a huge lift from hulking import Smith, who converted consecutive inside hits to push the lead to 69-59 on back-to-back treys by RR Garcia.
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