Rain or Shine clinches fifth win over Blackwater Bossing
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TNT wins defensive battle against Magnolia
In a battle of two teams with contrasting playstyles, TNT Tropang Giga prevailed against Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, 88-82 on Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
TNT emerged victorious behind the near triple-double performance of import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who contributed 32 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists.
Hollis-Jefferson's performance was highlighted by his three-pointer and a breakaway dunk from a steal in the homestretch of the game to help TNT bounce back from their sorry loss from their last game against Converge and regained the lead in Group A with a 3-1 record.
Jayson Castro and Poy Erram joined RHJ in a 10-0 run that pushed the Tropang Giga to an 88-80 lead, after finding themselves trailing by two points going to the final four minutes of play.
Using TNT’s signature threes to its advantage, Rondae knocked down one from beyond the arc to recapture the lead, 81-80, then stole Magnolia’s defensive identity when he closed the game with a winning fast break slam after deflecting the pass of Glenn Robinson III with 31.4 seconds remaining.
Photo Courtesy: PBA Images
TNT head coach Chot Reyes said that "The reason we won was not our three-point shooting but our defense. We scored below 100 and it's not a good score, but we limited them to 82. So defense for me was the key factor. That's the way Magnolia plays, they defend the paint very well. In the vernacular duduguin ka talaga to get the inside baskets. But I think the reason we won was not our three-point shooting. It was really our defense. We scored below 90, that’s not a really good offensive night but I thought that because we limited them to only 82 points, that allowed our 88 to be enough.”
Rey Nambatac chipped in 15, RR Pogoy 12 and Brian Heruela 10 for the Tropang Giga.
Meanwhile, Glenn Robinson III scored 19 to pace the Hotshots who also drew double-digit outputs from Zavi Lucero (14), Paul Lee (13), Mark Barroca (12) and Ian Sangalang (11).
At halftime, Barroca was feted by the league after hitting the 2,000 career assists milestone.
The scores:
TNT 88 – Hollis-Jefferson 32, Nambatac 15, Pogoy 12, Heruela 10, Erram 6, Castro 4, Oftana 3, Khobuntin 3, Aurin 3, Varilla 0, Exciminiano 0, Ebona 0.
Magnolia 82 – Robinson III 19, Lucero 14, Lee 13, Barroca 12, Sangalang 11, Abueva 7, Dela Rosa 6, Ahanmisi 0, Dionisio 0, Alfaro 0, Escoto 0, Laput 0.
Quarters: 29-22; 50-49; 72-66; 88-82.
