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PBA: TNT weathers June Mar Fajardo's monster 4th to tie series

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/sports/02/10/jayson-castro-021017.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Jayson Castro finished with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists, and made a critical basket late in the game to help TNT beat San Miguel in Game 2 of their semifinals series on Friday. Photo courtesy of the PBA Media Bureau</div></figcaption></figure></div>It&#x27;s a worn-out statement that coaches use to describe a grind-it-out win. But in TNT&#x27;s case on Friday, defense indeed was the key.TNT held San Miguel to without a field goal in the last 3:30 of the game and withstood a near one-man show by June Mar Fajardo in the 4th quarter to win 87-85 in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.The loss, San Miguel&#x27;s first in 71 days and only its second in the Philippine Cup, snapped an 11-game winning streak.Their best-of-7 series is now tied at 1-1. Game 3 is at Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.&quot;It was really hard for a coach doon sa mga ganung situation,&quot; said TNT head coach Nash Racela, referencing the elimination round game his team lost on a late Alex Cabagnot 3-pointer.&quot;We made sure (Cabagnot) won&#x27;t at least have a look at the basket. We&#x27;ll take our chances. Again, players were able to make a stop in the end so that&#x27;s very important.&quot;Jayson Castro finished with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists and Ranidel de Ocampo contributed 13 points and 13 rebounds on a night when both teams shot poorly from the field.The win was TNT&#x27;s first against San Miguel in 3 tries this conference.&quot;We really don&#x27;t talk much about our confidence but we talked about San Miguel&#x27;s confidence, which is really high,&quot; Racela said.&quot;As a coach, ang sinasabi ko sa kanila the way to take (San Miguel&#x27;s confidence) out . . . is by beating them. At least today, we were able to do that. Hopefully this changes everything.&quot;Subduing a team with the 3-time MVP wasn&#x27;t easy.Fajardo scored 10 of his 25 points in the 4th, his 2 free throws helping San Miguel to retake the lead 82-80 after trailing much of the quarter.But TNT&#x27;s defense stymied the defending champions&#x27; offense forcing them to miss shots and commit errors.On offense, a split on the line by Kelly Williams, and baskets by Roger Pogoy, Castro and De Ocampo pushed TNT ahead 87-82.After 3 free throws by Cabagnot and a missed triple by De Ocampo in the ensuing play, San Miguel had a chance to tie the game or win it outright with 5 seconds left, but the Beermen couldn&#x27;t get into their set and ended up heaving an off-balanced desperation shot well after time expired.Fajardo feasted in the middle, adding 11 rebounds and 7 blocks, while Cabagnot added 24 points. The Beermen couldn&#x27;t hit from outside, though, as Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter and Arwind Santos combined for 2 of 17 from 3-point range. Overall, San Miguel converted 26% (7 of 26) from downtown.TNT&#x27;s 3-pointers weren&#x27;t falling either (7 of 28, 25%) but Racela got a lot of help from his bench, which outscored San Miguel 36-15.Troy Rosario led TNT with 14 points.For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/" target="_blank">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.

TNT held San Miguel withstood a near one-man show by June Mar Fajardo in the 4th quarter to win 87-85 in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals on Friday.