By Ivan Stewart Saldajeno/PNA
MANILA — Putting on a face mask hardly mattered for Troy Rosario as he led the TNT Katropa to a 104-93 victory over the San Miguel Beermen in his comeback game in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on Sunday night.
Rosario, making his season debut after he was sidelined with a broken nose from the pre-season, put up 22 points to help pace the KaTropa, who made waves in the second half by burying 31 third-quarter points and limiting the Beermen to just 17 in the final period.
Rosario made most of his damage from the outside, going 6-for-12 from the long range, and he also had five rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Jayson Castro topscored TNT with 24 markers, going 9-for-9 from the two-point range, alongside 11 assists, five rebounds, and four steals.
Chris Standhardinger made 24 markers and 10 boards, while Von Pessumal added 23 points, four rebounds, one assist, and one block, and June Mar Fajardo chipped in 22 markers, five caroms, four dimes, and three steals for SMB.
Meanwhile, the NLEX Road Warriors finally got to the win column with a 107-97 victory after surprisingly surging the Columbian Dyip in the first game.
The Road Warriors opened the game with a 39-16 lead and held off the Dyip, who came alive in the third quarter.
In his first win with NLEX, Poy Erram put up 23 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks, while Kenneth Ighalo had his best game with the club with 19 markers, 11 rebounds, and two assists even as Marion Magat chipped in 14 markers and 13 caroms with one assist and one block.
Jay-R Reyes made 17 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and two steals off the bench for Columbian, which dropped to 2-2.
