ANTIPOLO - Jayson Castro returned from sickbay and made his teammates play better, and the TNT KaTropa checked a three-game slide, gaining a coveted twice-to-beat incentive in the PBA Governors Cup quarterfinals with a 114-109 escape win over San Miguel Beer Wednesday night at the Ynares Sports Center here.
Castro, KJ McDaniels, Troy Rosario and RR Pogoy all played big games as the KaTropa beat the Beermen in a virtual playoff match for a key position in the Top Four at the close of the elims.
Enjoying an 18-point spread then fending off an SMB siege at endgame, TNT ended up third behind the NLEX and Meralco while relegating San Miguel Beer to a fifth-place windup.
Earlier, the Alaska Milk Aces trounced the Road Warriors, 106-90, to complete the quarterfinals cast.
It's No. 1 NLEX versus No. 8 NorthPort, No. 2 Meralco against No. 7 Alaska, No. 3 TNT opposite No. 6 Magnolia and No. 4 Barangay Ginebra versus No. 5 San Miguel.
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The Beermen played with a badly depleted lineup as the team management suspended Arwind Santos, Kelly Nabong and Ronald Tubid indefinitely for their involvement in the scuffle that broke out at team practice last Sunday. The fourth player involved in the fight, import Dez Wells, wasn't penalized, having left the country in the aftermath.
The Beermen stressed they're not tolerating "unsportsmanlike behavior" and slapped the sanction even if it risks their grand slam bid.
"Basketball is a physical game where emotions can run high, but we believe that PBA players have to be held to a higher standard of professionalism and sportsmanship at all times," the team said. "It is for this reason that we've come to this decision, even if it impacts our bid for a second franchise grand slam. Our commitment now, moving forward, is that we will work doubly hard and play our very best, for our fans and for the organization."
San Miguel did put up a tough fight, even threatening to steal the game at endgame.
With San Miguel down by two at 108-110 with 17.5 ticks left, June Mar Fajardo knocked in a charity and, after splitting the second one, grabbed the rebound for a chance to push his team ahead.
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Alas, Fajardo muffed a short one-hander.
Then quickly drawing a foul, McDaniels canned in his own foul shots and, in the ensuing play, blocked a three-pointer by John Holland as the KaTropa secured the crucial win.
McDaniels finished with 44 points and 12 rebounds, Rosario fired 30 markers, including 8-of-13 triples, Castro came through with a near triple-double with 12 markers, 11 assists and nine boards while Pogoy chipped in 17 points on top of seven rebounds, four steals and two assists. (SB)
The scores:
TNT 114 - McDaniels 44, Rosario 30, Pogoy 17, Castro 12; Reyes 5, Parks 4, Washington 2, Williams 0, Digregorio 0, De Leon 0.
San Miguel 109 - Holland 25, Romeo 18, Ross 16, Lassiter 16, Fajardo 13, Cabagnot 12, Tautuaa 8, Rosser 1, Pessumal 0.
Quarterscores: 37-25, 53-46, 87-77, 114-109.
