TERRAFIRMA stole the thunder from the rest of the teams that resumed play in the PBA Philippine Cup in Bacolor, Pampanga yesterday by shocking San Miguel Beer 110-104 in overtime to finally crash the win-column on its fifth try.
Juami Tiongson and Eric Camson delivered the killer blows in the extra period as the Dyip capped their dogged fightback from 16 points down in regulation and ultimately cut short the Beermen’s winning skein at three.
Tiongson scored to make it 95-all that eventually forced OT before scoring five of his career — and team-high 28 — points in the extension, where Camson added six of his 13 that he capped with charities that made it an unassailable 107-102 count, only 35 ticks remaining.
The loss, its second in five games, was a bitter pill for SMB since it seemed headed for an easy win after posting as much as a 67-51 third quarter lead.
Earlier, TNT gave another glimpse of what it could do by routing Blackwater 96-76 and taking a provisional share of the lead at the empty Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym.
The Tropang Giga shook off a relatively lethargic first half with a mighty third quarter show that pointed them to their fourth win in as many outings and a tie with fellow unbeaten Magnolia, setto meet Meralco later, at the top.
It marked the first time TNT coach Chot Reyes, who initially handled the team from 2008-2012, steered Manny V. Pangilinan’s flagship franchise to a 4-0 start in any conference but he was still only slightly pleased.
“Our objective in this game was to put together 48 minutes of good basketball and obviously we failed because Blackwater outplayed us in the first 24 minutes,” said Reyes, referring to the Bossing razing an early 10-point deficit and even taking a 43-37 lead at the half.
“Credit to (Blackwater) coach Nash (Racela) and his staff. They came out with a very good and solid gameplan against us. Pinahirapan kami talaga sa first half,” said Reyes.
Good thing the likes of relievers Brian Heruela and Dave Marcelo took turns pumping TNT up in the third period, enabling the Tropa to match the points they put up in the entire first half and outscore the Bossing by 20.
With momentum clearly theirs and the Bossing falling apart at the seams, the Tropa had little trouble in erecting as much as a 94-68 lead.
“Fortunately, we were able to adjust and our depth showed in the second half,” said Reyes.
“I think we wore them down a bit with our pressure and our depth, that’s why we were able to pull this ‘W’ off.”
Mikey Williams had 16 points to lead TNT, which also drew 13 points from RR Pogoy and 11 from Jayson Castro in his return to the place where he spent his high school days.
Simon Enciso led Blackwater with 14 points, but he went scoreless in the last 14 minutes in typifying the Bossing’s collapse that relegated them to a 0-5 slate in the tournament while absorbing their 13th straight loss since last year.
Ex-Meralco Bolt Baser Amer had his best offensive game in a Blackwater uniform with nine points while newly-activated Carl Bryant Cruz and Frank Golla finally saw action and also provided some spark off the bench.
But the Bossing simply could not match the Tropa’s pace when the latter fully put the pedal to the metal and the team is now on the verge of matching the franchise’s worst losing streak of 14 set during its maiden 2015-16 season.
