Texters scuttle Elasto Painters

MANILA, Philippines — TNT KaTropa started life under the coaching pair of Bong Ravena and Mark Dickel on a winning note, coming through with one big salvo in the second half to pull off a 110-104 win over Rain or Shine in a PBA Governors Cup Petron Blaze road showdown at the City of Passi Arena in Iloilo last night.

The two teams were engaged in a nip-and-tuck battle before Marqus Blakely, Terrence Romeo, RR Garcia and Troy Rosario fuelled a decisive 18-to-nothing run to seize control and hold on to notch a third win in seven games.

Blakely, a two-time champion import with Magnolia, marked his TNT debut with a near triple-double performance with 26 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists.

Rosario and Romeo also delivered big games with 24 and 22 points, respectively, combining well with Blakely as they foiled the Elasto Painters in their initial outing after their core served duty in the recent Jakarta Asian Games.

Meanwhile, Commissioner’s Cup title protagonists Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel Beer banner an explosive Sunday doubleheader at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.

Magnolia (2-0) stakes its clean slate against a surging Phoenix Petroleum team (4-1) at 4:30 p.m. before the Kings (3-1) and the Beermen (2-1) rekindle their rivalry at 6:45 p.m.

Ginebra is still with champion import Justin Brownlee while San Miguel is with AZ Reid after coming up short in the last conference with Renaldo Balkman. Out in the Ginebra-SMB rematch are Cebuano rival behemoths June Mar Fajardo and Greg Slaughter who are both nursing an injury.

While also missing the services of other injury-hit players Japeth Aguilar, Jervy Cruz, Sol Mercado and Raymond Aguilar, the Kings dropped a 118-124 loss in overtime to the Blackwater Elite Friday night.

On the same night, San Miguel put on an amazing offensive show in a return from an upset loss, equaling the league record of 23 three-pointers in a game as it clobbered Columbian Dyip, 143-119.

The Texters had their own show of firepower from the long court, with Rosario, Romeo, Garcia, RR Pogoy and Don Trollano combining for 16 three-pointers as against the E-Painters’ 11.

Rosario was 6-of-16 from beyond the arc, Romeo was 5-of- 11 while Pogoy was 3-of-7.

The two teams figured in a fierce exchange of treys early in the third period before the E-Painters suddenly hit into the wall, going without a basket in a stretch of nearly five minutes bridging the third and fourth quarters.

And the Texters pounded the opportunity to build an 18-point spread at 96-78.

The scores:

TNT 110 – Blakely 26, Rosario 24, Romeo 22, Pogoy 14, Garcia 6, Williams 6, Cruz 5, Carey 4, Trollano 3, Reyes 0, Semerad 0.

Rain or Shine 104 – Bullock 23, Yap 21, Norwood 12, Torres 9, Almazan 8, Belga 6, Ponferada 6, Onwubere 4, Tiu 4, Nambatac 3, Daquioag 3, Maiquez 2, Borboran 2, Casiño 0.

Quarterscores: 18-23, 45-49, 89-78, 110-104