TNT clinches second semi-final seat after dispatching NLEX
TNT booked the second ticket in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup semi-finals after dispatching the NLEX Road Warriors, 125-96, in their game last night, October 1, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Tropang Giga got the 3-1 triumph in their best-of-five series with a 29-point blowout to continue its journey to their title defense bid.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson once again led TNT with his 35 points and 11 rebounds, while Rey Nambatac delivered 19 markers on a 7-of-12 shooting from the field, and RR Pogoy also contributed 18 on 6-of-10 shooting.
Calvin Oftana had his own share by manufacturing 11 points and grabbing 10 boards.
At the end of first quarter, the Tropang Giga already erected a 10-point lead. Then, they started the second period with an 11-0 blast, and never looked back from that moment to finally seal the deal at the end of the game.
With the quick series win against the Road Warriors, TNT will enjoy some rest while awaiting the Rain or Shine-Magnolia knock-out matchup on whom they will play in the best-of-seven final four.
"In basketball, it's about playing defense and putting the ball in the hoops. In the quarterfinals, we finally hit some shots," said TNT coach Chot Reyes.
"Whichever we play will be a much different team, and it will be a test for our flexibility and adaptability. It will be a big test for our defense," he added.
Robert Bolick and DeQuan Jones had 25 and 21 markers, respectively, for NLEX, but TNT’s hot 57.5 percent shooting from the field was too much for the Road Warriors to overcome.
The scores:
TNT 125 – Hollis-Jefferson 35, Nambatac 19, Pogoy 18, Oftana 11, Khobuntin 11, Erram 10, Williams 5, Aurin 5, Exciminiano 4, Payawal 3, Heruela 2, Castro 2, Ebona 0, Galinato 0, Varilla 0.
NLEX 96 – Bolick 25, Jones 21, Policarpio 12, Nermal 10, Torres 9, Anthony 5, Valdez 4, Semerad 3, Nieto 2, Fajardo 2, Herndon 2, Mocon 1, Miranda 0, Amer 0, Rodger 0.
Quarters: 35-25; 66-46; 95-74; 125-96.
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Jayson Castro scored 16 points and made an immediate impact in his first game of the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup.
Castro added three steals and two assists in his return to help TNT Tropang Giga get the 109-93 victory over the Blackwater Bossing on Thursday night, December 19, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The nine-time PBA champion missed TNT's first three games due to hamstring issues.
TNT's all-around import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson supported Castro with his 22 points, nine rebounds, five dimes, five deflections, and a block.
Four more Tropang Giga scored in double digits to get their second straight victory of the tourney. Rey Nambatac contributed 19, Calvin Oftana provided 18, RR Pogoy put up 12, and Glenn Khobuntin added 10.
Meanwhile, Blackwater high-scoring import George King, who averaged 39 points per game, was only limited to a conference-low 28 markers on 10-of-22.
The Bossing also don't have their prized rookie Sedrick Barefield due to injury.
With King being handcuffed and Barefield not in the lineup, RK Ilagan stepped up and poured out 19 points highlighted by 3-of-3 shooting from the arc.
The game was the last of the year for both teams.
TNT will be back in action on January 7 against Meralco Bolts, while Blackwater will come back on January 8 to face Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Sweet-shooting guard Jordan Heading and import Cheick Diallo poured out 21 points each to lead Converge in their victory over the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 116-105, on Thursday night, December 19, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The win marked the first time that the FiberXers won back-to-back games in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup and improved their record to 4-2.
Besides Heading and Diallo, four more Converge players scored in double digits. Schonny Winston and Bryan Santos contributed 16 apiece, while Alec Stockton and BJ Andrade added 14 and 11, respectively.
Their twin towers, ace center Justin Arana and top pick rookie Justine Baltazar both came out with six markers.
"We give credit to our guys," said FiberXers acting head coach Franco Atienza, who admitted that he was anxious when Phoenix made a good start that led to a 20-2 lead.
"We just stuck on, we didn't panic. We returned to how we want to run our system, how to run our offense, our defense," Atienza added.
Converge will have a chance to extend their win streak when they face Barangay Ginebra on Saturday, December 21, in Batangas City, and against Meralco Bolts on Christmas day at the Big Dome.
Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell led Phoenix with 30 points and 18 rebounds. He was supported by RJ Jazul's 20, Tyler Tio's 13, and Ricci Rivero's 11.
The Fuel Masters now have a 1-5 win-loss record after dropping their final game of the year.
The Scores:
CONVERGE 116 - Heading 21, Diallo 21, Winston 16, Santos 16, Stockton 14, Andrade 11, Arana 6, Baltazar 6, Racal 5, Delos Santos 0, Caralipio 0.
PHOENIX 105 - Smith 30, Jazul 20, Tio 13, Perkins 12, Rivero 11, Tuffin 8, Verano 4, Garcia 3, Soyud 2, Manganti 2, Salado 0, Alejandro 0, Muyang 0, Ular 0, Daves 0.
Quarter Scores: 15-30, 48-54, 87-80, 116-105.
San Miguel failed to earn its breakthrough win in the 2024-25 East Asia Super League (EASL) after bowing to Hong Kong Eastern, 62-71, at Southorn Stadium in Hong Kong, on Wednesday, December 18.
Kobey Lam spearheaded the pivotal comeback, registering 19 points, which gave the Hong Kong squad its first victory in the EASL game.
Notwithstanding the efforts of June Mar Fajardo and recently signed import Torren Jones for San Miguel, Eastern maintained their lead.
After a difficult turn-around shot by Fajardo, the Beermen were able to cut the margin to just two points at 58-60 in the fourth quarter.
However, just when it appeared that San Miguel had the advantage, Lam blazed through when he scored five of Eastern’s 9-0 run.
Lam also posted three rebounds and one assist for the Hong Kong-based squad, with Chris McLaughlin tallying a double-double of 16 markers and 17 boards, while Glenn Yang contributed 11 for the home team.
Fajardo and Jones led the charge for the Beermen with 19 points each, but their efforts were for naught as they failed to keep the team from suffering a third straight loss and dropping to the bottom of Group A.
The loss was the first in three games for Leo Austria since taking over as coach last week in place of Jorge Gallent.
San Miguel will aim to finally grab their first win in the EASL as they face the Hiroshima Dragonflies on January 8 at the Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Japan.
The Scores:
Hong Kong 71 – Lam 19, McLaughlin 16, Yang 11, Blankley 7, Xu 5, Leung 5, Chan 4, Zhu 4, Cheung 0, Pok 0, Guinchard 0.
San Miguel 62 – Fajardo 19, Jones 19, Perez 8, Miller 5, Trollano 3, Tautuaa 3, Cahilig 3, Rosales 2, Ross 0, Lassiter 0.
Quarter Scores: 28-14, 48-34, 60-48, 71-62.