TNT big man Troy Rosario. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
With the ease the TNT KaTropa showed in slipping past the Alaska Aces, the top team of the MVP Group of Companies will be a force to reckon with in the race for the highly coveted top two positions after the eliminations of the current PBA Philippine Cup.
Now back in full force after ace guard Jason Castro was given permission to skip the first two TNT games for additional rest, the KaTropa flashed their most intimidating form so far by outclassing the Aces, 109-100, last week to improve to a second-running 4-2 win-loss card behind the leading defending champion San Miguel Beer (4-1).
The Aces, who dropped to 3-3, came into the game riding the crest of an impressive 101-86 conquest of Governors’ Cup champion Barangay Ginebra after leading by what many felt was an unbelievable margin of 30 points (92-62) early in the last quarter.
So complete was the rout Ginebra coach Tim Cone could just stare helplessly at the Gin Kings during the break before the last quarter.
Alaska coach Alex Compton did no such thing against TNT, however, as the Aces rallied from several 16-point leads to move within seven at 70-77 after the third period, but the KaTropa quickly quashed all hopes of a comeback by the losing finalist here last year which continued to miss the services of injured big men Sonny Thoss and Nonoy Baclao.
Firing two triples in a 10-2 run to open the last quarter, TNT seized full control again with an 87-72 TNT lead.
The KaTropa went on to finish with 14 treys in 31 attempts with lanky forward Troy Rosario hitting his sixth triple to finish with 26 while boosting the lead to 93-77. Castro and Larry Fonacier backed Rosario up with 16 points each and Ranidel de Ocampo rounded out the balanced scoring with 10.
Blackwater earlier reached 4-2 as its young core led by top Gilas Pilipinas draft pick Mac Belo brought down GlobalPort, 99-91. Then Rain or Shine made it a three-way tie for second as the Elasto Painters repulsed their former coach Yeng Guiao and the NLEX Road Warriors, 107-97.
With GlobalPort at 3-2 like Star and Alaska and Phoenix tied at 3-3, it’s still a mad scramble for the top two slots among the eight qualifiers after the one round eliminations that will earn a twice-to-beat bonus.
Meralco and Ginebra also remain in contention at 2-3 but NLEX (1-5) and Mahindra (0-5) are now prime candidates for an early vacation.