By Ivan Stewart Saldajeno/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — TNT forced a deciding Game 3 in its PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinal series against San Miguel with a 93-88 Game 2 win at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on Monday night.
Troy Rosario scored the go-ahead trey as the KaTropa recovered from stinging Game 1 defeat on Saturday night to bring their best-of-three series to full length.
With both teams tied at 86 apiece, Rosario hit a wide-open right corner three-pointer with 1:04 left to give TNT an 89-86 lead.
Arwind Santos tried to answer back with his own triple but he missed, and Jayson Castro scored a huge layup with 29 seconds to go to up the lead to five, 91-86.
Brian Heruela added a split from the free throw line off a steal to stretch the lead further to six, 92-86, with 22 seconds to play.
Alex Cabagnot still provided some scare when Heruela fouled him while taking a triple, but he only made 2-of-3 from the charity stripe and that was all SMB wrote for the game.
RR Pogoy made 20 points, nine rebounds, and four assists; while Castro added 19 points, nine assists, one rebound, and three steals off the bench for the KaTropa.
Rosario completed a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Junemar Fajardo finished with 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting, 19 rebounds, one assist, and one block for the Beermen.
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