MANILA – TNT KaTropa set aside its internal woes to escape with a 118-114 overtime win over Columbian Dyip in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jayson Castro led the way with 25 points, Terrence Romeo chipped in 22 markers, while Roger Pogoy and Anthony Semerad contributed 16 and 15 points, respectively, for the KaTropa (2-3).
American reinforcement Stacy Davis was sparingly used by TNT and finished with 11 points in 22 minutes of play off the bench in what could be his final game with the squad.
In the second game, defending champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings rode on the hot hands of Justin Brownlee to score 109-101 against Alaska Aces.
Prior to the TNT-Dyip match, head coach Nash Racela was put on “indefinite leave” by the KaTropa management following their woeful 1-3 start – the franchise’s worst since the 1999 PBA season.
TNT seemed headed to an easy win after being up by as much as 16 points in the first half but Dyip battled its way back in the second half to tie the count 97-all on a Matthew Wright triple.
Dyip snatched the lead 103-101 on back-to-back triples by Jerramy King but TNT answered back with shots from Romeo and Roger Pogoy for a 107-103 count. Back-to-back hits by Dyip’s Akeem Wright and Russel Escoto tied the scores 107-all.
In the overtime TNT surged to a 117-114 lead on a Castro 3-pointer by and a Romeo layup. Errors followed by a crucial technical foul from Dyip allowed the KaTropa to escape with the win.
King led Dyip with 26 points, including four 3-pointers, while Wright added 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the team that remained winless in five matches.
In the Kings-Aces game, Ginebra trailed early in the opening quarter until Brownlee ignited the offense to build a double-digit advantage. Alaska made a huge rally to come to within 34-36 at the half.
Kings pulled away anew in the third behind Brownlee and Japeth Aguilar for their largest lead in the game at 11 points. Alaska made its last push but was only able to come to as close as 8 points.
Brownlee finished the match with 45 points while Aguilar and Kevin Ferrer had 24 and 11 points for Kings (2-0). Vic Manuel topped the scoring with 28 markers for the Aces (3-1)./PN
