By JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — The TNT KaTropa Texters stunned the top-seeded San Miguel Beermen for a second straight time, hacking out a 98-92 victory Sunday night in Game 3 of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series.
Veteran Ranidel de Ocampo and rookie Roger Pogoy combined to form a devastating duo to lift the Texters to a 2-1 lead in their best-of-7 series. Game 4 is set Tuesday night.
De Ocampo finished with a game-high 24 points on top of nine rebounds, three assists, and one steal in 33 minutes. His two free throws with 8.1 seconds left sealed the victory for TNT.
Pogoy scored a career-high 22 markers, including six three-pointers. The young Gilas candidate also grabbed seven boards.
Jayson Castro opted to play the role of a court general rather than the team's top gunner, finishing with a double-double 11 points and 12 assists on top of four rebounds in 33 minutes.
Kelly Williams also powered his way to 11 markers and three boards in just 17 minutes off the bench. Mo Tautuaa and Troy Rosario added 10 and nine points, respectively.
Even the veteran but seldom used Danny Seigle proved to be a thorn in SMB’s side as he delivered quality six minutes of play, scoring all his four points in the fourth quarter plus two blocks, including one on SMB superstar June Mar Fajardo.
An 8-0 run spiked by six straight points from Tautuaa, including two dunks, gave TNT a 61-49 lead in the third quarter.
But SMB responded with an 11-0 blast to retake the lead, 70-69.
With the score tied at 72-all at the start of the fourth period, Pogoy nailed three triples, the last one giving TNT a 92-86 lead with 3:23 left, which the Texters protected the rest of the way en route to their second straight win in the semis.
Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter paced the Beermen with 18 points apiece, while Fajardo added 16 points and nine boards. However, the two-time MVP was rendered ineffective in the closing minutes of the game due to TNT’s swarming defense and his own foul trouble.
Chris Ross and Arwind Santos added 12 markers apiece.
Game Monday: Star Hotshots vs. Barangay Ginebra Kings (Game 3, best-of-7 semifinals; Star leads 2-0).
