McDaniels leads TNT to 2nd win

MANILA, Philippines — Riding on the infectious all-around performance of import KJ McDaniels, TNT KaTropa hammered out a 103-91 victory over Rain or Shine to catch idle NLEX at the PBA Governors’ Cup summit last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The highly-touted McDaniels scattered 37 points, spiked by 10 in the last three minutes that quelled the E-Painters’ uprising, to go with 13 rebounds, five assists and five blocks to tow the KaTropa to a 2-0 win-loss card in the Petron Saturday Special match.

“Like I said in our first game, we need McDaniels to be steady and consistent and the locals will follow suit,” said TNT coach Bong Ravena of his versatile reinforcement, who had previously dished out a 41-point, 22-rebound, seven-assist output in his smashing debut last Wednesday.

True enough, TNT’s Pinoy crew complemented McDaniels with solid outings.

Troy Rosario fired 16, including a clutch trey in the mop-up, plus nine boards while skipper Jayson Castro shot 15 with seven dimes, and Don Trollano and RR Pogoy accounted for 12 apiece.

“The locals stepped up tonight,” said Ravena.

“We have to keep working hard, get as many wins as we can as the games get tougher and tougher,” he added.

Joel Wright led ROS with 20 but missed the last three minutes and 50 seconds after being slapped with a flagrant foul 1 for tripping Rosario from behind. He was forced to sit out three minutes, helplessly watching as McDaniels went to work to stop the E-Painters’ fightback.

The KaTropa broke free from a 56-53 count with a fiery run ignited by McDaniels and Pogoy.

They enjoyed a 79-68 tear late in the third but couldn’t get rid of ROS right away. The E-Painters pulled to within 86-90 on a Wright followup with sttill 4:39 to go before McDaniels anchored an 11-3 counter-attack that restored a 13-point tear at 103-88.

In the second game, Eugene Phelps delivered a 27-23-11 and Matthew Wright sizzled wih 28 spiked by a dagger jumper in the dying seconds as Phoenix Pulse broke into the win column at the expense of Barangay Ginebra, 103-101.

The Fuel Masters buried the Gin Kings early with a torrid 41-24 first quarter but needed to survive a scary ending before getting the breakthrough after a 0-2 start. The Gin Kings dropped to 1-1.

The scores: 

First Game

TNT 103 – McDaniels 37, Rosario 16, Castro 15, Pogoy 12, Trollano 12, De Leon 8, D. Voaotros 3, Semerad 0, Magat 0.

Rain or Shine 91 – Wright 20, Mocon 19, Yap 18, Daquioag 9, Nambatac 5, Rosales 5, Ponferada 5, Exciminiano 4, Norwood 4, Borboran 2, Belga 0.

Quarterscores: 27-21, 49-44, 81-72, 103-91

Second Game

Phoenix 103 – Wright 28, Phelps 27, Chua 17, Jazul 10, Mallari 9, Napoles 6, Perkins 4, Potts 2, Garcia 0.

Ginebra 101 – Brownlee 25, Tenorio 20, Pringle 19, Aguilar 18, Slaughter 11, Dela Cruz 4, Thompson 2, Chan 2, Caperal 0. 

Quarterscores: 41-24, 57-44, 81-66, 103-101