Jayson Castro. PBA IMAGES
TNT refused to lose and earned a ticket to 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals after a 104-96 overtime victory over Meralco Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jayson Castro canned the game-tying freebie with 5.1 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and drilled the insurance free throws in the extra period for the KaTropa to win the best-of-three quarterfinals series, 2-1.
“As a coach, you can’t really give up early. I know we were down but we said until it’s not over, we still have a chance,” said coach Nash Racela. “We just wanted to force a turnover so the ball gets back to us and we’ll have a chance.”
Castro finished with 31 points, three rebounds, and two assists to power TNT to complete the Final Four cast.
Joshua Smith also nabbed a huge double-double of 31 markers, 27 boards, four dimes, and two steals for the KaTropa, while Roger Pogoy had 13 points, two rebounds, and two assists.
TNT will face top-seed Ginebra in the best-of-five semifinals, to start on Monday at Mall of Asia Arena.
The Bolts squandered a 14-point edge in the third quarter, 64-50, and a five-point lead, 87-82, in the final 2:29.
Miscues down the stretch doomed Meralco after Chris Newsome threw the ball away on the inbounds pass and Castro secured the steal and got fouled by Jared Dillinger.
Castro, though, could only muster a split from the charity stripe with 5.1 seconds remaining, but Dillinger muffed his runner as the game went to overtime.
Baser Amer gave it his all for Meralco with 25 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals, while Dillinger had 20 markers and five boards in the defeat.
Alex Stepheson got 12 points and 15 rebounds in the losing effort for the Bolts.
The Scores:
TNT 104 – Castro 31, Smith 31, Pogoy 13, Reyes 8, De Ocampo 7, Garcia 7, Williams 6, Semerad 1, Rosario 0, Rosales 0, Carey 0, Tautuaa 0.
MERALCO 96 – Amer 25, Dillinger 20, Stepheson 15, Hugnatan 12, Newsome 7, Hodge 6, Caram 6, Daquioag 3, Nabong 2, Uyloan 0.
Quarters: 29-19, 38-43, 66-73, 89-89, 104-96.
