MACAO – TnT Katropa capped its stint in the East Asia League Terrific 12 on a winning note as it rallied back to nip Niigata Albirex Basketball, 99-90, Thursday at the end of the group stage at the Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion.
KJ McDaniels exploded for 47 big points including 11 of the team’s last 14 points to steer the Katropa to their first win in the tournament.
TnT finished its Group D campaign with an even 1-1 card as it closely missed a berth in the semifinals.
McDaniels added 17 rebounds and shot 19-of-35 from the field as he almost singlehandidly rallied TnT back from as much as a 49-58 deficit.
"We have KJ in our team and that makes the game that much easier," said TnT active consultant Mark Dickel.
"We're fortunate to have another player help us a lot."
The Katropa missed their other import McKenzie Moore, who suffered a strained calf the last game, along with starters Jayson Castro and Troy Rosario.
But Roger Pogoy somehow filled in the void left by the three players as he finished with 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting, while newly-acquired Almond Vosotros added 12 on 2-of-4 conversion behind the three-point region, the last of which gave TnT a 94-88 lead with 1:27 to go.
TnT lost its opening day game against Liaoning Flying Leopards, 96-91.
The Leopards went on to clinch the lone semis berth in Group D with a 110-82 win over Niiga Albirex Basketball for a perfect 2-0 record.
Import Nick Perkins finished with 34 points and 12 rebounds in a losing cause for Niigata Albirex, which finished its campaign winless in two games.
Kei Igarashi had 17 and Yuichi Ikeda added 16 for the B-League side of Japan.
The scores
TnT Katropa (99) – McDaniels 47, Pogoy 27, Vosotros 12, Casino 5, De Leon 5, Semerad 2, Magat 1, Carey 0, Golla 0, Washington 0.
Niigata Albirex Basketball (90) – Perkins 34, Kashiwagi 17, Ikeda 16, Imamura 8, Ueta 6, Ishii 3, Takahashi 2, Uzawa 2, Morii 2.
Quarterscores: 23-21; 50-47; 72-71; 99-90.
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