Rice also rises as Texters whip Fuel Masters

MANILA, Philippines -  Glen Rice Jr. seized the moment and fired 38 points to power TNT KaTropa to a 110-103 victory over Phoenix in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Rice added nine rebounds, five assists, three steals and two shot blocks in a superb all-around game that could have saved his spot in the team after a 19-point, eight-board, three-assist effort in the Texters’ 73-105 blowout loss to the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters last Sunday.

“We went into this game with the hope of Glen playing a lot better than he played in his first game. And he did,” said TNT KaTropa coach Nash Racela.

Meanwhile, the PBA visits Cebu today with crowd favorite Brgy. Ginebra taking on winless Alaska at 5 p.m.

The Kings are gunning for a fourth win in five games while the Aces seek to end a long winless spell, including five straight this conference.

In the nightcap, San Miguel survived GlobalPort’s late fightback and escaped with a 115-112 decision to improve to 3-1.

The Batang Pier slid to 2-3.

With first import Michael Craig, who normed 18.5 points, 15.5 rebounds and eight assists, in his first three games, ready to take over again for TNT, the 6-6, 26-year-old Rice, who played for the Washington Wizards sparingly in 2013 and 2014, put up a solid performance to power the Texters to their third win against two defeats.

Jayson Castro and Roger Pogoy also marked their return from their stint with Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA-Asia Cup in Lebanon with 11 and 14 points, respectively.