FORCED to a grind-out game in the first three quarters, TNT shifted to higher gear in the fourth period to hurdle tenacious Columbian 109-102 Friday and regain solo leadership in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Terrence Jones took his usual place at the forefront of the KaTropa's attack by pouring in 14 of his game-high 39 points in the final canto, enabling his team to fully shake free of the dogged Dyip's clutches.
After missing one game to tie the knot with his long-time partner, Jayson Castro returned to action and promptly notched 22 points while Roger Pogoy delivered 16 points as TNT notched its fifth straight win and improved to a 7-1 slate overall.
Winning coach Bong Ravena was simply glad his TNT side was able to overcome Columbian's tough stance that even saw the Dyip lead by eight points thrice, the last at 66-58, midway in the third quarter.
"We started slow kaya medyo we were struggling," said Ravena. "Plus, credit Columbian, they gave us a hard time. Good thing we came back in the second half."
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The loss was Columbian's second straight, dropping it to an 11th-running 1-5 record and dimming its hopes of making it among the top eight teams advancing to the quarterfinals following the 11-game eliminations.
But not after the Dyip put up a gallant stand that saw them engage their more fancied opponents to 10 deadlocks, the last at 73-all, early in the fourth.
It's just that the gargantuan effort Columbian put in earlier seemed to have finally taken its toll as the Dyip faded while TNT's more balanced attack enabled the KaTropa to come out on top of a 21-7 exchange for a 94-80 spread, 5:00 left in the game.
"We were expecting them to come out strong," related Ravena. "Siyempre, they're young. Walang gagawin iyan kundi... tatakbo lang iyan, open court. Du'n kami nahirapan, eh. Sa open court nila, sa transition. In the second half, buti nakabawi kami."
In a marked improvement from his 26-point, 14-rebound debut last Sunday, Lester Prosper churned out 37 and 20 this time. But only CJ Perez's 22 points, nine rebounds and career-high seven dimes and JP Calvo's 15, six and four were the best local support the other Dyip could offer.
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Rashawn McCarthy, usually good for close to 14 points a game, could only score five while Jackson Corpuz, usually good for almost 10 points a game, scored only eight as he joined hands with starter Andreas Cahilig, Glenn Khobuntin, Jeepy Faundo and Russell Escoto in trying to limit Jones.
To no avail.
Jones already had 20 points and 11 rebounds with his and-one enabling TNT to a take a 51-50 edge at the break.
Castro even added 10, but the KaTropa still could not fully shake off their less-star-studded but equally gritty opponents.
Columbian hung tough, mainly through starters Prosper, Calvo and Perez. Prosper already had his second straight double-double secured after the first 24 minutes of play with 17 and 11, with Calvo adding 10 markers and Perez eight.
With the likes of Corpuz and Reden Celda chipping in, the Dyip even posted an early 27-19 lead before fighting back from a 37-46 deficit and tying the game twice, the last at 48-all.
The trend held for most of the third period, with Prosper's seven points stoking Columbian's 13-2 surge from a 53-56 deficit before Ryan reyes' corner triple and Castro's drive sparking a 13-2 TNT counter that gave it back the lead 71-68, before Castro answered Prosper's second triple of the game with a putback to make it a 73-71 count heading to the final 12 minutes.(NC)
