Big-time Castro trey saves TNT

MANILA, Philippines — Never count out the heart of a champion.

Ever-dependable Jayson Castro rifled in the booming go-ahead triple as titleholder TNT eked out a 93-92 thriller over Magnolia for a 2-1 lead in their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Castro’s big-time conversion from deep with 2.4 ticks left salvaged what could have been a losing match for TNT, which trailed by as many 10 early and made some nearly-costly miscues in the stretch.

“It’s two evenly-matched teams equally desiring to fight it out. In the end, it comes down to who makes the shot and fortunately for us, tonight it was us,” Tropang Giga coach Chot Reyes said.

Reyes’ troops entered the last 2:09 with an 88-85 deficit but plodded on and, with the seasoned Castro as spearhead, turned it around with an 8-4 windup.

Glenn Khobuntin cut the Magnolia lead to one point via two charities off Ian Sangalang’s sixth foul before Castro put the Tropang Giga in front with his three-point play off Russel Escoto, 90-88.

Mark Barroca hit a couple of clutch baskets amid a wild sequence of errors and misses, giving Magnolia a 92-90 margin with 9.8 seconds left.

TNT quickly inbounded and sent the leather to Castro, who went to work and delivered.

Paul Lee managed to launch a Hail Mary shot but it went way off, allowing the Tropang Giga to take this crucial second “W” in the race-to-four contest.

“We have no illusions about this being an easy game or series. It’s going to be a struggle, a challenge all the way,” said Reyes.

“So even in moments when we were down, we just kept our poise, stayed in the game, continued doing what we do and waited for our opportunity. I think that helped us in the end.”

With Mikey Williams held to 15, Poy Erram took the scoring cudgels for TNT with 22 points plus eight rebounds as Castro netted 16. Khobuntin matched the 15 of Williams, who made up for his lack of production with 10 assists.

Calvin Abueva and Sangalang finished with 18 and 17, respectively, before fouling out one after the other in the fourth.

“We were trailing most of the game but we caught a break when Calvin and Ian fouled out so we’re able to take advantage to get the lead,” said Reyes.

San Miguel Beer also took the driver’s seat through three games against Meralco after hammering out a 96-91 triumph in the nightcap.

June Mar Fajardo banged in 21 markers and 16 boards, doing the most damage in the fourth to power SMB to a 10-point tear at 83-73.

CJ Perez shot a team-high 26, pouring half of them in the opening canto to get the Beermen off to a good rhythm. Jericho Cruz (15) and Vic Manuel (11) also made significant contributions as SMB rebounded from its 99-88 loss in Game 2 and complemented its earlier 121-97 Game 1 rout.

Magnolia seized control early, using an 11-1 salvo bridging the first and second quarters to go up by 10 at 29-19.

The Tropang Giga, however, countered with a 28-12 run spiked by six treys to wrest a 47-41 margin at the half.

Powered by Abueva’s 11-point outburst after restart, Magnolia came up with a 32-19 exchange to retake the lead, 73-66, and kept TNT in the backfoot until Castro’s late-game charge.

Castro made the winning play after Barroca’s short stab despite TNT having no timeouts left. Reyes said they plotted that offensive during Magnolia’s own timeout.