THE TNT KaTropa are just a win away from returning to the finals of the Philippine Basketball Association after beating the defending champions San Miguel Beermen, 101-94, in Game Five of their best-of-seven Philippine Cup semifinal series last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jostled in a game of runs, the KaTropa proved to have more to give in the end as they raced to a 3-2 series lead in their semifinal bracket in the season-opening PBA tournament and moved a step closer to playing in the championship, something they have not done so in almost two years.
TNT relied on a balanced attack to fight off a tough challenge from San Miguel, which it had to beat by standing its ground in the closing moments of the match.
The Beermen dominated the KaTropa in the opening quarter, winding up with a 32-24 lead at the end of it only to lose the lead in the second period as TNT outscored it, 26-8, to create some distance by half time, 50-40.
San Miguel did not waste much time covering ground in the third period, going on a 17-7 run to tie the knot at 57-all with 7:27 left in the quarter. It went on to take its biggest lead in the period, 64-60, before TNT made its move back to finish the quarter still ahead, 73-69.
The final canto saw the KaTropa going on a 7-3 blitz to pad their lead, 80-72, in the first three minutes. San Miguel clawed its way to bring their deficit to just one point, 83-82, at the halfway point of the quarter.
TNT then scored six straight points after to regain momentum and force the Beermen to play catch-up anew. But San Miguel could only come closest by four points, 89-85, with 2:59 left as the KaTropa rode away with the win.
Veterans Kelly Williams, Jayson Castro and Ranidel De Ocampo each scored 18 points. Mr. Williams padded his stat with seven rebounds and three steals, to earn player of the game honors, while Mr. Castro had seven assists to complement his point output.
Rookie RR Pogoy was the other KaTropa in double figures, finishing with 11 points and seven rebounds.
San Miguel, for its part, was led by Arwind Santos’s 18 points with Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross tallying 17, 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Reigning PBA most valuable player June Mar Fajardo had a double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds.
“San Miguel made its adjustments that made it hard for us so credit to them but credit to our coaches and players as well for making counter-adjustments,” said TNT coach Nash Racela after their key victory.
“It was another total team effort and we just have to keep working hard to be able to advance to the championship,” the coach added.
DENIES CLAIM
Meanwhile, during the halftime break of Game Five, San Miguel Corp. (SMC) Sports Director Alfrancis Chua met members of the PBA media to deny the special treatment claim in the series made by Mr. Racela after Game Four, which the Beermen won, 97-86, last Tuesday.
Mr. Racela expressed his frustration following their Game Four loss, saying the Beermen got “special treatment” from the referees which he claimed was what the team was asking for following two straight losses that saw the defending champions trail the series, 2-1, entering the contest.
The coach went on to say he felt the Beermen got the calls from the referees, an entitlement because they are the champions.
“Special treatment for what? Because we won? We’ve been here (PBA) for the longest time and when we lose we don’t say anything. Even our coach doesn’t say anything. To say that we are getting special treatment, getting calls from game officials in our favor, is not fair to us. They should just mind their own team and we will mind ours,” said Mr. Chua.
“When we lost two straight they did not say anything. And when we won we got special treatment? We’re just protecting our players. Our concern is for them not to get hurt and that they are not being fouled intentionally, so we voiced that out,” the SMC official said, citing the case of fouls given to Mr. Fajardo in particular.
TNT can close out San Miguel in Game Six tomorrow at the Mall of Asia Arena.
