MANILA, Philippines — Kelly Williams stepped up in the absence of Moala Tautuaa while RR Garcia took charge at endgame upon the exit of Jason Castro as TNT KaTropa repulsed Kia, 90-85, to breach the .500 mark anew in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations at the MOA Arena last night.
Williams, averaging only 7.2 points an outing, exploded for 23 markers on top of eight rebounds while Garcia delivered the finishing kick as the Texters sprang back from their 83-91 loss to the Magnolia Stars the last time out and moved back to the Top Four with a 4-3 win-loss card.
Kia came up short in its bid for another upset win and dropped deeper down the cellar at 1-6.
“It may not look good with the way we’re getting wins. But the good thing is that we’re winning games,” said Williams, needing to flex his muscles hard with Tautuaa indisposed with a suspected food poisoning.
“We know we have a lot of things to work on. We’re hit by sickness bug and by injury bug, and we need lots of adjustments. Despite that, the guys are responding well and the coaches are doing well to get us ready,” Williams also said.
Garcia stepped up at the finish while Castro and Ryan Reyes were on the sidelines. The former UAAP MVP winner personally fended off Kia’s gritty challenge in scoring all of the Texters’ last five points.
Garcia came through with his heroics after coach Nash Racela was forced to take out Castro following a hard spill on the floor inside the last two minutes of the game.
Calvin Abueva came back from a one-game absence wearing a new jersey number – No. 88 – and playing an inspired game as Alaska Milk stretched its streak to five games with a 93-75 rout of Phoenix Petroleum later in the night.
“I had a problem with family that’s why I missed our game the last time. I prepared hard for this game as I wanted to show who I am,” said Abueva who had 21 points, 14 rebs and four steals.
to help the Aces stay on a hot run. Jackson Corpuz grabbed the loose ball with Castro down on the floor, and scooted down court for a breakaway layup as Kia threatened for the last time at 83-85 with time down to 1:33.
But then Garcia shattered Kia’s defense on back-to-back penetrations to all but settle the outcome.
Castro piled up 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists though missing the homestretch of the game. Garcia, meanwhile, finished with 13 markers, five boards and one dish-off.
The Picanto waged a good fight on the return of Corpuz and Russell Escoto from injuries and on the activation of Carlo Lastimosa from the free agent pool.
Lastimosa made five points in his first game on a Kia uniform, including a three-pointer that had the Picanto enjoying command, 62-58, late in the third.
The Texters, however, answered with a lethal 13-to-nothing run and stayed in the lead all the way to the finish.02
