By JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — The TNT KaTropa Texters weathered a furious San Miguel Beer rally in the endgame to prevail, 101-94, Thursday night in Game 5 of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series Thursday night.
The Texters thus gained a pivotal 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven series, needing just one more victory to clinch a finals berth. Game 6 is set Saturday.
Jayson Castro and Kelly Williams delivered the telling baskets at crunch time as the two, together with Ranidel De Ocampo, led TNT in scoring, posting 18 points apiece.
Castro nailed 11 of his points in the fourth quarter, with his last two-pointer, a fadeaway jumper, giving the Texters a 93-85 lead.
After SMB’s June Mar Fajardo converted two free throws, Williams scored on a reverse layup to give TNT another eight-point lead, which proved too much for the Beermen to overhaul.
Williams drilled eight of his points in the final period, and added seven rebounds, three steals, and one assist in 25 minutes, winning for himself the Best Player of the Game award.
Rookie Roger Pogoy added 11 points for TNT.
Five Beermen finished in double digits with Arwind Santos leading his team with 18 points and six rebounds. Alex Cabagnot scored 17 markers while Marcio Lassiter added 16. Chris Ross and Fajardo chipped in 15 and 13 points, respectively, but still not enough to defeat the Texters.
TNT raced to a 14-5 lead, but SMB countered with an 11-2 run to take a 32-24 lead in the first quarter.
With the score tied at 40-all, Pogoy scored seven straight points to spark a 10-0 TNT run that allowed the Texters to take a 50-40 halftime lead.
TNT padded its lead to 13, 53-40, early in the third quarter but SMB fought back with a huge 20-3 run, capped by back-to-back triples from Cabagnot and Lassiter, as the defending champs regained the lead, 60-57.
The Texters played tough, regaining the lead back, 73-69, with De Ocampo and Williams delivering the goods.
Castro then scored five straight points boosting TNT’s lead to eight, 80-72.
The Beermen charged back, slashing TNT’s lead to, 83-82. But Castro scored back-to-back baskets down the stretch to secure the win for the Texters.
Game Friday: Barangay Ginebra Kings vs. Star Hotshots (Game 5, best-of-7 semifinals; series tied at 2-2).
