MANILA – With an 88-71 victory in Game 2 of the 2019 Honda PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, TNT KaTropa moved closer to unseating Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings.
It surged to a 2-0 edge in the best-of-five series.
Jayson Castro led the way with 20 points, including four triples, while Roger Pogoy and Jeth Troy Rosario chipped in 18 and 16 markers, respectively.
Reinforcement Terrence Jones struggled offensively with just 15 points on 6-of-20 shooting but still got the job done on other categories with 19 rebounds and 10 assists for a triple-double.
From a 21-all deadlock after the first 12 minutes, the KaTropa trailed early in the second period before surging ahead to a 51-42 halftime lead on outside shots by Pogoy, Jones and Castro.
The KaTropa continued its run in the third period with baskets from Rosario and Jones for a 59-44 edge. The Kings rallied to within eight but hits from Rosario and Ryan Reyes stretched the lead to 68-55.
TNT went for the finishing run in the fourth quarter with three-pointers from Castro and Brian Heruela for a 77-63 edge. It grew to its largest at 88-71 with under two minutes on Pogoy triple.
For the defending champions Kings, Justin Brownlee had double-double 25 points and 14 rebounds while Japeth Aguilar, Earl Scottie Thompson and LA Tenorio had 14, 13 and 11 markers, respectively./PN
