Jayson Castro made sure that there would be no collapse this time around.
“The Blur” knocked down a clutch three-pointer to lift the TNT Tropang Giga to a 98-91 triumph over the Converge FiberXers in the 2024 PBA Governors’ Cup on Sunday, September 8, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Tropang Giga had nearly squandered a 21-point lead, with the FiberXers threatening to repeat the result of their encounter last August 27, when import Scotty Hopson nailed a four-pointer to complete their comeback from a double-digit deficit.
“They made some good adjustments in the second half, particularly in the third quarter, and like we expected, they got back in the ball game. They have a very good team over there, very well-coached. So when they made a run, all we were talking about in there was we expected this,” TNT coach Chot Reyes said.
“We said, ‘We’ve been here before. We expected this.’ We just had to make sure that we could execute when we needed to execute, and Jayson made some great decisions down the stretch for us,” he added.
The FiberXers started off slow but crawled their way back in the second half, and a layup by Schonny Winston brought them within two points, 93-91, with still 90 seconds to play.
But Castro coolly knocked down a three-pointer on TNT’s next possession, and a Calvin Oftana layup with 28 seconds left pegged the final score.
Alex Cabagnot’s attempt at a four-pointer with 17 seconds left was off the mark, allowing TNT to run out the clock.
Castro finished with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson put up 21 points and 10 boards, while Rey Nambatac had 17 points and Oftana finished with 14 for the Tropang Giga.
TNT has now won three straight games, putting them at 5-1 — tied with the Meralco Bolts for the lead in Group A.
Justin Arana had 16 points and Winston finished with 15 for the FiberXers, who fell to 2-4.
Hopson, the hero of their upset against TNT, was limited to 13 points. (ABS-CBN News)
TNT 98 — Hollis-Jefferson 21, Nambatac 17, Oftana 14, Castro 14, Pogoy 12, Erram 5, Payawal 5, Aurin 5, Khobuntin 3, Heruela 2.
CONVERGE 91 — Arana 16, Winston 15, Stockton 15, Hopson 13, Ambohot 12, Delos Santos 8, Santos 7, Cabagnot 4, Racal 1, Nieto 0, Vigan-Fleming 0, Andrade 0.
Quarterscores: 36-18, 58-39, 78-67, 98-91.