Lassiter fuels strong second half by Petron to beat TNT

Danny siegle of TnT (light) vs Marcio Lassiter of Petron (dark). Photo by KC Cruz/ PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines — Petron Blaze turned things around in the second half to beat defending champion Talk ‘N Text, 105-91, in the 2014 PLDT myDSL Philippine Cup Saturday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Marcio Lassiter led the way for the Boosters, who bounced back from their Christmas day loss to the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings to remain in second place with an 8-2 record, with 22 points.

“Just be aggressive and continue to play our defense that got us here. We started slow but we picked it up in the second half,” said the hot-shooting swingman Lassiter, who scored 10 of his points in the pivotal third quarter where Petron took control and led, 76-64.

Reigning MVP Arwind Santos added 19 points, nine rebounds and two blocks while also getting help upfront with Doug Kramer, who started at center in place of the injured Junemar Fajardo for the second straight time and scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

“I think we played a better defensive job in the second half. In the first half we allowed them to make their 3-point shots especially with Larry Fonacier making four out of five,” said Petron coach Gee Abanilla.

The Boosters’ defense held the Tropang Texters to just 39 points in the final two quarters after giving up 52 points in the first half.

Jayson Castro had 23 points for TNT, which is now tied with Rain or Shine in third place at 6-3, while Larry Fonacier scored 19 points but had just two points in the second half.

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