Kai Sotto tears ACL during B.League 2025 season game
4
TNT nears repeat of a Governors’ Cup Championship
The TNT Tropang Giga has dominated Game 5 of their best-of-seven series against Barangay Ginebra, 99-72, on Wednesday night, November 6, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
TNT moved closer in clinching the championship as they now lead the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup Finals series, 3-2.
Kelly Williams, who started for the first time in the Finals for the Tropang Giga was vital in providing the spark early as he produced the first seven points for the team and ended up with 13 markers and three rebounds.
Photo Courtesy: PBA Images
“All I can say is, it’s the team, it’s the coach, it’s coach Chot. They know I’ve been struggling on and off the court. They just really rallied around me. They basically told me they believe in me and that gave me a lot of confidence and fuel to make sure I come in and focus and do whatever the team needs me to do to get a win,” said Williams.
Williams' contributions on both sides of the floor was appreciated by TNT head coach Chot Reyes. And the nine-time champion coach hoped that he would sustain that energy until the end of the series.
“Kelly’s contribution to us is his defensive ability and his energy. He does a lot for us defensively that’s very important in our scheme of things. We hope he can sustain it some more for the rest of the series,” said Reyes.
The hardworking TNT reinforcement Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, led all scorers with 16 points, together with RR Pogoy, while Calvin Oftana who had shot the lights out in their last outing, was still making shots to finish the game with 15.
But more than the scoring, the defensive prowess of the Tropang Giga was very evident in the blowout win. It was again apparent in the second quarter of play when they put up a 30-13 surge.
They even limited Ginebra’s import Justin Brownlee to a single-digit output and forced him to shoot the ball poorly in the game.
Coach Chot Reyes said that they just didn't panic and went back to their main strength in terms of their defense.
"I think that the most important thing was for us not to panic and keep our heads around us so that we could make good decisions. I think that's number one," said Reyes.
"Number two was just our focus on our strength all-tournament-long, and that was our defense," he added.
Now that the Tropang Giga recovered from their back-to-back loss in Games 3 and 4 of the series, they are now just one win away from clinching the trophy and they have the opportunity to do it in Game 6 on Friday, November 8, also at the Big Dome.
But if the never-say-die attitude of the Gin Kings comes into play in Friday’s game, they can extend the series to a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday, November 10, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The Scores:
TNT 99 – Hollis-Jefferson 16, Pogoy 16, Oftana 15, Williams 11, Castro 10, Nambatac 7, Erram 7, Exciminiano 6, Khobuntin 4, Heruela 3, Galinato 2, Aurin 2, Payawal 0, Ebona 0, Varilla 0.
Barangay Ginebra 72 – Tenorio 13, Thompson 13, Holt 10, Brownlee 8, Abarrientos 7, J. Aguilar 6, R. Aguilar 5, Cu 5, Pessumal 4, Ahanmisi 1, Adamos 0, Pinto 0.
Quarters: 26-20; 56-33; 79-48; 99-72.
