TNT KaTropa beat Mahindra to go 4-1
TNT KaTropa sustained their ascent in the ongoing Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup, taking down the Mahindra Floodbuster, 86-84, in the opening match yesterday to win their fourth straight game.
After initially tumbling in their first outing in the midseason PBA tournament, the KaTropa have racked up four victories in as many games after to fortify their place early in the top half of the standings at 4-1.
TNT, as of this writing, is tied with the Alaska Aces for joint fourth place.
In beating Mahindra (1-5), the KaTropa though had to dig deep in the face of a spirited challenge from the Floodbuster.
The protagonists went back and forth in the opening quarter, hardly giving cushion to one another with TNT claiming the frame by just one point, 18-17.
In the second half, the affair continued to be nip-and-tuck until the KaTropa made a late sprint to create some distance, 47-38, by halftime.
Trying to make up for lost ground, the Floodbuster went on a 16- 8 blast in the first seven minutes to narrow the gap at 55- 53.
TNT would keep its head above water, holding a 65-62 at the end of the third period.
Mahindra continued to crowd TNT at the start of the fourth period but the KaTropa would fend it off, answering every attack with a counter of their own.
The Floodbuster overtook the KaTropa at the 6:49 mark of the payoff period, 77-75, before TNT answered back with 6-1 surge to distance itself anew.
But Mahindra would not go quietly as it inched closer by two with 31 seconds remaining, 83-81.
It turned out to be the farthest that the Floodbuster would go as after the KaTropa sped off and parked the win.
Donte Greene led TNT with 22 points to go along with 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Jayson Castro had 10 points and seven assists while Troy Rosario finished with 11 markers.
Keith Wright top- scored for Mahindra with 26 points, LA Revilla had 20 and Alex Mallari 17.
“We still created a lot of errors in this game and we have to do a better job at controlling it in our next games. Luckily we have been winning games despite the kind of performance we are having,” said TNT coach Nash Racela in the postmatch press conference.