MANILA — Terrence Romeo stayed hot for a second straight game, banging in a team-high 18 points, 14 of them in the decisive fourth quarter, to power the Gilas Pilipinas to another stunning come-from-behind victory over New Zealand's hard-fighting Wellington Saints, 84-81, on Day 2 of the MVP Cup Saturday night. Reprising their Sept. 4 match in the Jones Cup where Gilas won, 92-88, in overtime after razing a 16-point deficit, the Filipinos once again fell behind by as much as 13 points, before exploding big time in the fourth quarter to once again frustrate one of the toughest basketball clubs in New Zealand. It was the second win for Gilas Pilipinas, virtually assuring themselves of the championship in the three-day pocket tournament regardless of the outcome of their game Sunday against the Chinese Taipei national squad. Romeo nailed four explosive three-pointers in the fourth quarter that turned the tide of the battle in the Filipinos' favor. Gilas Pilipinas were behind, 67-54, in the third quarter as the Saints' zone defense kept the Filipinos at bay as they struggled with their outside shots. Finally, amid the roar of the crowd that filled the Smart-Araneta Coliseum despite heavy rains, Romeo caught fire from the outside, breaking the New Zealanders' zone defense. Firing back-to-back triples, Romeo finally gave the lead to Gilas, 78-76, with just 3:03 remaining. The Saints countered with a triple of their own, but Calvin Abueva quickly struck back with a looping teardrop basket for an 80-79 lead for Gilas. After a miss by Wellington, Romeo fed Jayson Castro for a fastbreak layup to pad Gilas lead to 82-79, with 50.6 seconds remaining. After Romeo missed two free throws, Wellington playing coach Kevin Braswell knocked in two charities to cut Gilas lead to 82-81, with 7.7 ticks left. The Kiwis once again sent Romeo to the charity stripe, but this time after missing five straight free throws, the 5'11” hotshot drilled two to seal the victory. Naturalized Filipino Andre Blatche scored 16 points and nine boards while Abueva finished with 10 points and six rebounds for Gilas. Braswell led the Saints with 25 points. Justin Edwards and Ray Turner added 17 points apiece. Meanwhile, in the opening game of the Saturday double-header, PBA top draft picks and former Gilas boys Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario led the Talk N Text Tropang Texters' to an impressive 99-91 victory over the hapless Chinese Taipei team who suffered another defeat after getting routed by Wellington Friday. Tautuaa, the No. 1 pick, finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds while Rosario, the No. 2 pick, had 19 points and nine boards. The Texters bounced back after losing to Gilas Friday with a masterful conquest of Taiwan's national basketball team which is considered one of the top teams in the upcoming FIBA Asia championship in Changsha, China. More worrisome for Chinese Taipei, it saw three of its stars suffering injuries as big men Tseng Wen-ting and Wu Tai-hao, and top gunner Lin Chi Chieh crumpled to the floor one after another, reducing the team to nine players. The 6'7” Tautuaa and 6'6” Rosario dominated the paint, outrebounding the entire Taiwanese squad, 28-22. With Chinese Taipei up by two points, 82-80, the Texters unleashed a 9-2 run capped by a Rosario slam off Chinese Taipei naturalized player Quincy Davis. With TNT up, 92-87, and the Taiwanese trying to spark a rally, Tautuaa made a huge steal leading to a Rosario breakaway layup that all but sealed the victory for the Texters.
