MANILA – TNT KaTropa wasted a lead as high as 21 points before eking out a 117-106 victory over the shorthanded NLEX Road Warriors in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Joshua Smith led KaTropa with 24 points, 13 rebounds and five assists as they tied with Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (6-1) on top of the standings. Anthony Semerad added 22 markers while Terrence Romeo contributed 19 points.
In the second game, Arwind Santos came up with huge baskets in the overtime for the defending champion San Miguel Beermen to beat Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings 104-97.
With Semerad, Smith, Jericho Cruz, and Roger Pogoy catching fire early, KaTropa went on to a 45-30 lead that later grew to its largest at 51-30. Road Warriors rallied back to come to within 56-63 at the half.
Road Warriors continued its run in the third – even snatching the lead 80-79 on a basket by Arnett Moultrie – but KaTropa answered with a 10-2 run behind Semerad, Cruz and Jayson Castro to build a 104-91 edge.
NLEX made its last push and managed to come to as close as 104-108 on back-to-back treys by Alex Mallari but KaTropa got timely hits from Romeo, Castro and Smith to seal the win.
Moultrie finished with double-double 31 points and 14 rebounds while Mallari and Larry Fonacier had 15 and 14 points, respectively, for Road Warriors (2-5), which continued to play without Kiefer Ravena and Kevin Alas.
In the ensuing match, Beermen opened the extension period with a triple from Santos for a 98-93 lead. After Kings cut the deficit 95-99, Santos uncorked another outside shot to clinch the victory of Beermen.
Santos finished with 19 points, including three 3-point conversions, for Beermen (2-3), which recorded its second consecutive victory.
Renaldo Balkman led Beermen with 27 points and 11 rebounds while June Mar Fajardo broke his scoring slump with 24 points and 18 boards. They played without injured rookie Christian Standhardinger./PN
