Tropang Giga edge Hotshots to book quarters berth

MANILA, Philippines -- The TNT Tropang Giga vented their ire on the Magnolia Hotshots, 98-93, to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals of the PBA Philippine Cup Sunday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

Kelly Williams once again carried the load for TNT, finishing with a near double-double of 19 points and eight rebounds.

Jayson Castro chipped in 18 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

Coming off a stunning loss against the lowly Converge FiberXers, TNT led by as much as 18 points, 58-40, in the third quarter as their offense just clicked.

Come the fourth quarter, though, the Hotshots cut the game to a single-digit deficit, 78-87, with less than five minutes remaining with a 3-pointer by Mark Barroca.

Glenn Khobuntin answered back with a layup, but Ian Sangalang responded with a deuce of his own.

A triple by Aris Dionisio inched Magnolia closer, 83-89, with 3:36 to go.

After a mini 4-0 burst by Castro pushed the lead back to 10, Dionisio dialed in from deep to tow the contest to a three-possession game, 86-93.

Calvin Oftana and Barroca exchanged timely buckets, but Castro hit the dagger with a patented pullup jumper to go up by an insurmountable nine point lead, 97-88, with 41 seconds left.

Brian Heruela scattered 13 markers off the bench, while Oftana had a lower-than-usual outing with just 12.

Barroca and Sangalang led the Hotshots with 22 and 21 markers, respectively.

With the win, TNT rose to 6-5, the same record as Magnolia.

The Tropang Giga, the Hotshots, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the Meralco Bolts all have identical win-loss slates.