MANILA – TNT KaTropa’s quest to unseat the San Miguel Beermen stayed alive after scoring a 93-88 victory in Game 2 of the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup best-of-three quarterfinals last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the score tied at 86-all, Jeth Troy Rosario and Jayson Castro surged the KaTropa ahead 91-86 with a triple and a layup before Brian Heruela and Roger Pogoy came up with split free throws to sealed the win.
Pogoy top-scored with 20 points and nine rebounds, Castro added 19 points and nine assists, while Rosario finished with double-double 15 points and 11 rebounds for the KaTropa.
Holding to a slim 20-19 lead after the first 12 minutes, the KaTropa created distance from the Beermen in the second period behind Castro and Pogoy for its biggest lead of 54-43 at the half.
The Beermen attempted to claw its way back several times in the second half but KaTropa got baskets from Castro and Rosario to keep them at bay before the Beermen was able to force a tie at 86-all on four straight points from June Mar Fajardo.
Fajardo finished the match with double-double 26 points and 19 rebounds, while Christian Standhardinger and Alex Cabagnot added 18 and 16 markers, respectively, for the four-time defending champions Beermen.
Magnolia Hotshots also stayed alive after a 106-77 rout on Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings to force a double header do-or-die match on Wednesday night.
The Hotshots surged to an 11-0 start on hits from Robbie Herndon and Andy Mark Barroca. The Kings managed to come to within 11-15 but the Hotshots pulled away anew at 25-16 on shots from Paul Lee and Aldrech Ramos.
After the Kings came to as close as 34-37, the Hotshots answered back with a rally from Jiovani Jalalon and Lee to establish a 51-38 halftime edge before widening it further in the second half and reached its largest at 89-58.
Sangalang finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, Herndon had career-best 18 markers and Jalalon had 17 points, five rebounds, six assists and five steals for the Hotshots. Solomon Mercado tallied 13 points for the Kings./PN
