MANILA – TNT Tropang Giga leaned on a huge fourth quarter rally to beat Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, 114-105, in the 2022-2023 PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson led the way with double-double 34 points and 11 rebounds, Mikey Williams and Roger Pogoy added 25 and 22 points, respectively, while Calvin Oftana and Jayson Castro had 12 each for TNT.
By finishing the elimination with 10-1 win-loss slate, the Tropang Giga secured the top-seed in the quarterfinals and will have a twice-to-beat advantage against no. 8 ranked Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters.
The defending champions Gin Kings, which ended with 8-3 record, ended as the no. 3 seed team and will have twice-to-beat incentive over the no.6 ranked NLEX Road Warriors on Sunday.
Down 98-84 early in the fourth quarter, the Tropang Giga leaned on the exploits of Pogoy, Oftana and Hollis-Jefferson to take a 103-101 lead on a three-pointer by Williams.
The Gin Kings took the lead for the last time at 104-103 after a triple by Justin Brownlee but seven straight points by Pogoy followed by free throws by Oftana and Williams sealed the win for the Tropang Giga.
Brownlee had double-double 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead Ginebra, Christian Standhardinger and Earl Scottie Thompson had 19 points each, while Jamie Malonzo and Stanley Pringle had 15 and 10, respectively.
San Miguel Beermen finished at 2nd place with its 9-2 record after hacking out a 129-116 victory against also-ran Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. The Beermen will have a twice-to-beat edge over No. 7 Converge FiberXers in the quarterfinals.
From a slim 62-56 halftime lead, the Beermen broke away in the third quarter behind Cameron Clark and Moala Tautuaa to build a 100-81 advantage but the Painters answered with a 10-0 blast to trim it to 100-93.
The Beermen leaned on inside presence by Tautuaa and Vic Manuel and conversions from Ilonggo Jericho Cruz and Jaymar Perez in the fourth quarter as the lead reached 115-95 anew.
Tautuaa and Manuel top-scored for the Beermen with 23 points each, Clark, Perez and Marcio Lassiter added 20 markers apiece, while Cruz contributed 12 markers./PN
BOX SCORE:
TNT 114 – Hollis-Jefferson 34, M. Williams 25, Pogoy 22, Oftana 12, Castro 12, K. Williams 5, Chua 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Montalbo 0, Varilla 0, Khobuntin 0.
GINEBRA 105 – Brownlee 27, Standhardinger 19, Thompson 19, Malonzo 15, Pringle 10, Gray 5, Pessumal 3, David 3, Onwubere 2, Dillinger 2, Pinto 0, Mariano 0.
Quarterscores: 23-27, 47-56, 82-93, 114-105.
