TNT survived the ejection of import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and a game Converge side with a much composed performance in overtime to escape with a 101-98 win Saturday night in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Jayson Castro kept a hold of the Tropang Giga and his leadership proved to be the biggest difference.
“If Jayson wants to win a game, he’s going to play that way. That’s Vintage Jayson Castro, which you saw tonight,” said TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa.
Castro scored nine of his 23 points in the fourth quarter but focused on making everybody on the team better in the extra period, including new recruit Jewel Ponferada, who scored four of his 12 in that stretch.
The 5-foot-10 guard had to take over and needed to play extended minutes, especially after Hollis-Jefferson got ejected from the game after accidentally throwing the ball that went to the face of Mike Nieto of Converge.
Hollis-Jefferson was called for a flagrant foul Penalty 2 just 42 seconds gone by in the third period, but the Tropang Giga with Castro leading the way, survived the FiberXers.

