MANILA – TNT Tropang Giga walloped San Miguel Beermen, 115-98, in Game 3 of the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals last night at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Roger Pogoy top-scored with 26 points while John Paul Erram added double-double 21 points and 13 rebounds to go with three steals.
With the win, the Tropang Giga regained the upperhand in the best-of-seven series, 2-1.
Rookie Mikey Williams drilled four triples to end up with 20 points while Jeth Troy Rosario and Bacolodnon Kib Montalbo chipped in 14 and 11 markers, respectively.
The Tropang Giga set the tone early with conversions from Pogoy, Williams and Erram for a 29-20 lead. It grew further in the second period at 43-27 before the Beermen trimmed it to 42-54 at the half.
TNT, however, made sure San Miguel Beer won’t be able to muster another fightback. They leaned on baskets by Rosario, Montalbo and Pogoy as the lead reached its largest at 98-73 on a free throw by Williams.
For the Beermen, Terrence Romeo led the way with 22 points. June Mar Fajardo and Jaymar Perez chipped in 14 markers apiece, while Alex Cabagnot contributed 12 markers.
In the first game, Meralco Bolts survived a late fight back by the Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots for a 91-86 victory in Game 3 of their best-of-seven semifinals.
Magnolia’s series lead were trimmed to 2-1.
Despite facing manpower issues, the Bolts surged to an early lead behind Chris Newsome and Nard John Pinto and were ahead by as much as 21 points at 75-54 early in the fourth quarter.
The Hotshots, however, mustered a huge fight back to trim the deficit to 72-77 and later to its closest at 86-89 with 28 seconds left but a late basket by Newsome sealed the win for the Bolts.
Newsome finished the match with 18 points., Pinto added 17 markers, while Rey Mark Belo and Negrense Siverino Baclao had 14 and 10, respectively, for the Bolts, who were without injured center Raymond Almazan and guard Aaron Black.
BOX SCORE:
TNT 115 – Pogoy 26, Erram 21, M. Williams 20, Rosario 14, Montalbo 11, Castro 9, Khobuntin 4, Heruela 4, Reyes 2, Marcelo 2, Mendoza 2, Alejandro 0, Exciminiano 0, Javier 0.
SAN MIGUEL 98 – Romeo 22, Fajardo 14, Perez 14, Cabagnot 12, Tautuaa 11, Santos 9, Pessumal 5, Lassiter 3, Ross 3, Gamalinda 3, Zamar 2, Gotladera 0, Comboy 0.
Quarterscores: 29-20, 54-42, 85-68, 115-98./PN
