KaTropa stop the bleeding with win over Floodbuster
THE TNT KaTropa wiggled their way out of a telling funk in the PBA Philippine Cup yesterday albeit struggled anew in fending off the Mahindra Floodbuster, 104-92, in their opening encounter at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Losers of their last two matches in the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association tournament entering the match, the KaTropa halted their skid but not after having made to sweat by an inspired Floodbuster crew.
Took a 29- 25 lead at the end of the first quarter, TNT saw things reversed in the second canto as it was outscored by Mahindra, 32-22, to trail by six points, 57-51, at halftime.
The KaTropa though came out firing in the third period with Troy Rosario, Moala Tautuaa and rookie Roger Pogoy leading the way en route to recapturing the lead, 82-78, at the end of the quarter.
Mahindra would go on a blitz at the start of the payoff period, making a 9-6 run to narrow its deficit, 88-87, with seven minutes left.
TNT, however, hit back- to- back triples after, care of Larry Fonacier and Ryan Reyes, to create some distance anew.
With momentum swinging their way, the KaTropa continued to take it to the Floodbuster, building a 10- point lead, 100- 90, with three minutes left in the match and never looked back.
Mr. Rosario led TNT with 18 points on top of nine rebounds while Mr. Pogoy finished with 16 markers, four assists and four steals.
Big man Tautuaa had 14 with Mr. Fonacier and Kris Rosales winding up with 11 each and Jayson Castro 10.
Mahindra, meanwhile, was paced by Alex Mallari who had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
TNT coach Nash Racela said defense was key for them in their skidbusting victory, particularly closing out on Mahindra’s shooters.
“Heading into the game Mahindra was shooting well. So we made a conscious effort to step up our defense in the second half, closing out better on their shooters,” Mr. Racela said.
For Mr. Pogoy, named player of the game, important for them as well in their win was their composure even when they were trailing, something he said they were not able to do in their previous two losses.
“We did a better job handling playing from behind. We just have to trust each other and play our game the way we are capable of,” the TNT rookie said.
With the win, the KaTropa improved to 5-4 for joint fourth place, as of press time, along with the Blackwater Elite. The Floodbuster, for their part, slid to 2-6, good for 10th place.
Next for TNT is a matchup with GlobalPort Batang Pier on Jan. 25 while Mahindra will have a short turnaround and take on the Alaska Aces on Sunday, Jan. 22.