MANILA – Behind a hot shooting from Ray-Ray Parks, TNT staved off elimination from the Philippine Basketball Association semifinals by edging Phoenix, 102-101, in Game 4 on Wednesday night at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.
Parks waxed hot for 36 points on 10-of-16 shooting including clutch baskets that helped the Tropang Giga put away the Fuel Masters, who were looking to end the best-of-five series and clinch their first-ever finals appearance.
Parks capped a string of five triples to start the fourth quarter with one of his own to give TNT an 84-75 cushion with 9:06 left.
He then made two free throws in the next offensive to up the lead to 11 with eight and a half minutes left.
Phoenix still tried to claw back, but Parks responded with a step-back jumper and four clutch free throws to keep TNT afloat.
Simon Enciso finally iced the exciting game for the Tropang Giga with two free throws with 0.5 seconds remaining.
Parks also had six rebounds, three assists, and two steals as TNT forced a Game 5 on Friday night.
Jayson Castro added 21 points, four rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
Wright finished with 34 markers on 7-of-10 shooting from three-point range, five rebounds, nine assists, and one steal for Phoenix, which could not complete a comeback after waxing hot in the third quarter.
Calvin Abueva added 17 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, and three steals, but he too was accounted for eight of the team's 27 total turnovers.
Box Scores:
TNT 102-Parks 36, Castro 21, Pogoy 18, Enciso 14, Washington 6, Erram 4, Montalbo 3, Rosario 0, Semerad 0, Reyes 0, De Leon 0, Vosotros 0
Phoenix 101-Wright 14, Perkins 19, Abueva 17, Jazul 11, Chua 10, Garcia 4, Rios 4, Heruela 2, Intal 0, Mallari 0, Reyes 0, Napoles 0
Quarterscores: 21-12, 48-38, 69-68, 102-101 (PNA)
