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[av_heading heading=’ TNT, Meralco advance to PBA Govs’ Cup semis ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Saturday. September 30, 2017
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MANILA – TNT KaTropa came up with clutch hits in the endgame to escape with a 118-114 win over Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the knockout quarterfinals round of the 2017 Oppo PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Trailing 114-112 following two free throws by Painters reinforcement J’Nathan Bullock, Jayson Castro tied the match at 114-all for KaTropa with two free throws from a foul by Bullock.
Import Glen Rice Jr. then surged KaTropa ahead at 116-114 on a putback shot from a missed three-point shot by Castro.
After a turnover by the Painters, KaTropa was able to seal the win with two free throws from Ryan Reyes.
Rice Jr. led the way with 34 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists while Castro chipped in with double-double 20 points and 12 assists.
The KaTropa will face Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in best-of-five semifinals.
Bullock, meanwhile, top-scored with 30 points, while Beau Belga and Mark Borboran contributed 18 and 15 points, respectively, for the Painters.
The Painters forced the do-or-die match following its 106-102 win in Game 1 on Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, Meralco Bolts averted an upset ax by the Blackwater Elite with a huge fourth quarter run to score a 104-96 in their knockout quarterfinals game on Thursday night.
Baser Amer led the way with conference-high 31 points, while Allen Durham added 18 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists for the Bolts, which advanced to the best-of-five semifinals against Star Hotshots.
Trailing 77-73 at the end of third period, Amer anchored Bolts run in the final quarter with back-to-back triples to surge to a 95-88 advantage. The Elite, however, countered with a run to come to within 91-95 after a trey by Michael Digregorio.
But back-to-back inside conversions and two free throws from Durham followed by a three-point basket from Dillinger gave the Bolts its largest lead of the game at 104-94 with under a minute left in the match.
Henry Walker finished with 34 points, with 27 coming in the first two quarters, while John Paul Erram contributed 18 markers for the Elite, which forced a do-or-die game following their 92-91 win in Game 1.
The scores:
TNT 118 – Rice Jr. 34, Castro 20, Rosario 18, Pogoy 16, Williams 10, Semerad 8, Reyes 5, Carey 4, Tautuaa 3, Nuyles 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 114 – Bullock 30, Belga 18, Borboran 15, Norwood 14, Cruz 11, Tiu 10, Ahanmisi 7, Trollano 5, Almazan 4, Ponferada 0.
Quarters: 27-27, 59-59, 85-86, 118-114.
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