TNT repels rusty Meralco

Games Friday (MOA Arena)

4:15 p.m. – Alaska vs GlobalPort

7 p.m. – Blackwater vs Ginebra

MANILA, Philippines – TNT KaTropa built a huge 21-point lead in the second period then withstood Meralco’s hot second-half charge, hacking out a 113-107 win to close in on the frontrunners in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.

Glen Rice Jr., Jayson Castro and Kelly Williams delivered the goods as the Texters pounced on a Meralco side that obviously came out a bit rusty from a long 18-day layoff.

Rice came through with 32 points and 11 rebounds, Castro contributed 27 markers while Williams added 16 points and 13 boards as the Texters nailed a fifth win against three losses.

The Bolts actually found a good rhythm in their return from the halftime break but failed to sustain the momentum and thus absorbed a second loss against five wins.

A big key for the Texters was stopping Allen Durham when it really mattered in the crunch.

“It’s really hard to defend Durham one on one. It took us a team effort to be able to – I can’t say limit because we’re not able to limit him – to at least make it hard for him in the end,” said TNT coach Nash Racela.

“That’s expected because we’re playing probably the best import in the conference,” Racela also said of the prolific Meralco import who was in his usual superb form even from a long respite, getting away with game-highs of 39 points and 24 rebounds.

But the Texters virtually ganged up on Durham on defense at crunch time, limiting his touches and forcing the Bolts to find other options.

The Texters were still nursing a slim 105-101 lead when Castro beat out Jared Dillinger in two successive plays.

Castro first blocked a 3-point attempt by Dillinger then, right in the ensuing play, the TNT ace guard drew Dillinger’s sixth and last foul for a trip to the line.

Castro made both charities to pad the Texters’ lead to six at 111-105 lead with time down to 57.4 seconds.

The TNT bench chieftain hopes they can now make a good run with all their players back in harness.

“I’ve mentioned this couples of games back, we’re unstable as a team because of a lot of things – Gilas, injuries, then Gilas again. That’s the sacrifice we had to make but it’s really tough,” said Racela.

“Di kami makabwelo. Ngayong kumpleto na, sana makabwelo na (We can’t get a momentum. Now that we’re complete, hopefully we can get going),” Racela added.

TNT KaTropa went through a win-loss-win-loss pattern before scoring a first back-to-back wins in the tourney. The Texters then lost their last game against the GlobalPort Batang Pier before bouncing back against the Bolts.

Castro and RR Pogoy rendered service to Gilas in the FIBA Asia Cup before Troy Rosario took his turn to play for Team Philippines in the SEA Games.