MANILA – Ryan Reyes turned back the clock as the TNT Tropang Giga cruised to a 119-92 domination of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in the 2021-2022 PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The former PBA Rookie of the Year waxed hot with eight triples to finish with a season-high 24 points. The Tropang Giga notched its second straight win to improve to 4-4.
Rookie Mikey Williams contributed 26 markers. Jayson Castro added 18 points, while reinforcement Aaron Fuller had double-double 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Tropang Giga surged to an early double-digit edge behind triples from Williams and Reyes. The Kings kept the match close at 53-55 but late hits by Castro gave TNT a 60-53 halftime edge.
The Tropang Giga continued its domination in the second half with three-point conversions from Reyes and inside hits by Castro and Fuller as the lead reached its largest at 32 points.
Justin Brownlee ended up with 25 points, while Japeth Aguilar and Christian Standhardinger had 18 and 16 points, respectively, as the defending champions Kings slumped to 3-3.
In the first game, NLEX Road Warriors vented its ire on Blackwater Bossing with a 117-97 beating to snap its three-game slide to improve to 5-3. Bossing dropped to 0-7.
The Road Warriors leaned on early exploits by Ilonggo Jericho Cruz and Kris Rosales for a 34-14 lead. The Bossing cut it to 14 in the second but points from KJ McDaniels widened NLEX edge to 18 at the half.
NLEX went on to build its largest lead at 26 points but Blackwater clawed back to within 14 in the fourth but the Road Warriors came up with baskets from Cruz and David Murrell to seal the win.
McDaniels led the Road Warriors with double-double 24 points and 11 rebounds, Cruz added 22 markers, while Rosales and Kevin Alas chipped in 18 and 15 points, respectively.
BOX SCORE:
TNT 119 — M. Williams 26, Reyes 24, Castro 18, Fuller 13, Montalbo 9, Khobuntin 9, Banal 5, Rosario 4, Heruela 4, Marcelo 3, K. Williams 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Erram 0, Cruz 0, Alejandro 0.
GINEBRA 92 — Brownlee 25, J. Aguilar 18, Standhardinger 16, Thompson 11, Tolentino 9, Tenorio 5, Pinto 4, Chan 2, Caperal 1, Enriquez 1, Ayaay 0.
Quarterscores: 34-28, 60-53, 94-74, 119-92./PN
