August 30, 2017

Rice explodes for 31 points as KaTropa halt Elite's 3-game win streak

TNT has been hit by injuries and lack of bonding time when some of its players had to represent the country abroad.

"We are all aware there are certain situations we are in now which are not too ideal," admitted coach Nash Racela.

"We are looking for stability at this point," added Racela. "As a coach I don't really know what to expect from them, except they'll give their best."

TNT allayed most of Racela's worries by manhandling Blackwater 117-96 Wednesday as the KaTropa notched back-to-back wins for the first time in the PBA Governors Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Glen Rice Jr. scattered 31 points and got the much-needed support from his local teammates in the KaTropa's more lopsided follow up to their 110-103 victory over Phoenix last Friday.

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With Kelly Williams coming off the bench to add 21 points and fellow relievers Jayson Castro and Rudy Lingganay chipping in at least 10 points each TNT had little trouble in notching the wire-to-wire win that was its fourth in six games overall.

The loss foiled Blackwater's bid to notch a first-ever four-game winning streak for the franchise as it now stands at 3-4.

Henry Walker, who has seen action for Alaska and NLEX in previous editions of the season-ending tournament, also failed in his bid to come out with a first time win over TNT although he gallantly tried with game-highs of 33 points and 18 rebounds.

JP Erram had his own double-double of 18 points and 13 boards while Mike Digregorio added 12 markers, but the Elite could do little in stopping the TNT tide that took shape as early as in the first quarter when they fell behind 8-20.

So irrepressible were the KaTropa that they even stretched the lead to as much as 69-42, early in the third period before taking a 107-82 spread going to the last six minutes of the game.

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The lone bright spot in the game came during a break due to technical problems early in the second period.

Former NBA great Ray Allen, who showed up to watch the game, approached Walker, a former teammate with Boston, and the entire team posed for a groufie with the man considered as one of the greatest shooters the NBA ever had.

The exhilarating feeling in Blackwater didn't last long as Rice led a sustained charge that also featured Lingganay and Mo Tautuaa and turned TNT's slim 30-25 lead into 62-40 at the half.