Strong finish

We didn’t want to come away from here having lost our first two games.

KJ McDaniels steers TNT KaTropa to a strong finish.

MACAU — TNT KaTropa ended its East Asia League Terrific 12 campaign on a high note after turning back Japan’s Niigata Albirex, 99-90, yesterday here at the Tap Seac-Multi-Sport Pavilion.

Playing without their second import McKenzie Moore due to strained calf injury, the KaTropa leaned on KJ McDaniels who tallied 47 points and 17 rebounds in 37 minutes of play to end their participation here with a 1-1 win-loss record.

“Obviously, we’re lucky to have KJ in the team. He makes the game much, much easier. He filled in for Terrence Jones last conference and we’re very fortunate of having a very good player helping us a lot,” KaTropa head coach Mark Dickel said.

“He’s a very unselfish player and defensively, he’s already clicked in and worked out exactly how we needed him to play. We’re not very happy, we’re very lucky to have him,” he added.

The former National Basketball Association (NBA) guard drew solid support from Roger Pogoy and Almond Vosotros, who contributed 27 and 12 markers, respectively.

Vosotros, a late addition to the team, gave TNT KaTropa a big lift in the game as starting guard Jayson Castro was rested by Dickel along with Troy Rosario.

“He’s (Vosotros) someone we’re really interested three or four months ago and tonight he showed he’s more than capable,” Dickel said of the former De La Salle Univeristy guard.

With nothing but pride on the line as both teams were already eliminated, TNT and Niigata battled neck and neck and Pogoy’s five straight points gave the Phl club an 82-77 lead with 6:34 remaining.

Niigata import Nick Perkins tied the game at 82-all with his own 5-0 blast, then McDaniels and Vosotros joined forces for a 17-8 exchange to put the game out of reach.

Perkins paced Niigata with 34 points and 12 rebounds while Shinsuke Kashiwagi and Yuichi Ikeda contributed 17 and 16 markers, respectively. The Japanese club also played without a second import as Lamont Hamilton sat out tournament.

Moore was impressive in TNT KaTropa’s 91-96 loss to Flying Leopards with 41 points but injured his calf late in that game.

“Going into our first game next week, it’s always good to take a win. We didn’t want to come away from here having lost our first two games,” said Dickel, whose KaTropa will meet Blackwater on 25 September in the Governors’ Cup.

The Elite got also eliminated here after finishing their Group A campaign with a 0-2 mark.