MANILA: Faced with manpower problems, Tropang TNT knew just who to turn to.

Jason Castro and the comebacking Ranidel De Ocampo carried the fight for the Texters on Wednesday night as shorthanded TNT opened defense of its PBA Commissioner’s Cup title with an impressive 108-102 decision of Blackwater at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Castro finished with 22 points capped by the dagger triple with 53 seconds to play, and De Ocampo marked his return with 20 and the defensive play of the night as the Texters made do without import Ivan Johnson and rookie Troy Rosario.

Johnson served out a one-game suspension for fighting with JP Erram and Frank Golla of Blackwater in a pre-season exhibition, and the Elite nearly pulled out an upset, thanks in large part to Carlo Lastimosa.

Rosario, the second overall pick in the Draft after teammate Moala Tautuaa, has already been cleared to play by team doctors. The 6-foot-6 former National University standout in the UAAP and Gilas Pilipinas pool member injured his shoulder in the final game of the Texters in the Philippine Cup.

Coach Jong Uichico, even without Johnson, still did not want to take chances on the health of his prized power forward.

And De Ocampo, who was also coming off a back injury that kept him out for the whole of the Philippine Cup, was up to the task of being one of the Texters’ the go-to-guys once more.

“We really missed him the last conference,” Uichico said of De Ocampo. “He’s back now. And I guess I played him longer minutes because of the short rotation that we had in the frontline.”

Also debuting with aplomb was the travel-weary Arinze Onuaku and Meralco, who held fort down the stretch to nip Star, 90-86, in the nightcap.

The beefy, 6-foot-9 Onuaku arrived at midnight on Tuesday and didn’t have a single practice with the Bolts, but shot 25 points and pulled down 22 rebounds in an awesome debut that had Meralco getting off to a solid conference start.

“It’s been a whirlwind week for us,” Meralco coach Norman Black told reporters, referring to the frenzy they were in after original import choice Malcolm Thomas got injured which left them just four days to find a replacement.

“He was willing to fly in. and he arrived 12 midnight last night,” Black added of Onuaku. “He’s pretty tired now, but he made the big shot down the stretch. A lot of credit should also go to the locals.

“We are trying to erase what happened last conference,” added Black, who made an early exit in the Philippine Cup after winning just one game, interestingly enough, against Star.

The Hotshots got 20 points from former Best Import winner Denzel Bowles.

TNT led by as large as 14 points, the last at 86-72, before the Elite made a last-ditch charge to turn things around.

Blackwater, which is seeking to at least make a second straight playoff appearance, made a game out of it in the dying minutes behind Lastimosa and import MJ Rhett, coming within 102-103 before Castro hit that trey over Mike Cortez for 106-102.

De Ocampo then snuffed out the last of the Elite’s chances of a reversal when De Ocampo picked possession off a driving Art dela Cruz, leading to a wide-open Larry Fonacier layup for what turned out to be the final count.

“It’s just good that we survived that game without an import,” Uichico said. “It’s a credit to the (local) players who fought hard all game long. Hopefully, we keep getting better.”

The 6-foot Lastimosa, who has enjoyed a rejuvenation this early in his career after being traded by defunct Barako Bull to the Elite last season, scattered a career-high 39 points that fell just short for Blackwater.

It was the highest-scoring game by a local to open up an import-laden conference since the great Allan Caidic drilled in 43 for disbanded Presto at the start of the 1992 First Conference.

But it was clear that Blackwater needed more from Rhett, a 23-year-old lefty who settled for jumpshots instead of banging it inside against a team that clearly did not have the muscle underneath with Johnson suspended.

Rhett finished with 16 points and just seven rebounds, quite not the effort coaching staff was looking for.