TNT nearly paid dearly for looking past Phoenix early on but shrugged off its frustrations just in time yesterday.
Bolstered by a telling second half breakaway, the No. 1 Tropang Giga dumped the eighth-seed Fuel Masters 132-105 in their quarterfinals duel in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Gunner Roger Pogoy uncorked a game-high 25 points, to go with 11 rebounds and seven assists for TNT, while Jayson Castro backed him up with 20 markers and four dimes.
Glenn Khobuntin also provided a big spark with five three-pointers and finished with 19 points, four boards and two feeds for the twice-to-beat Tropang Giga, while import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson turned in a triple-double of 18 markers, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
Calvin Oftana and Mikey Williams also had 15 and 14 points, respectively, as eliminations pacesetter TNT sustained the grit it showed in a 114-105 victory over defending champion Ginebra six days ago in its last eliminations outing.
The Tropang Giga lost veteran big man Kelly Williams in the first quarter due to a pulled calf injury.
The runaway win enabled TNT to forge a best-of-5 semifinals showdown with the winner of the Last 8 battle pitting No. 4 Meralco and fifth-ranked Magnolia.
The Bolts, also armed with a win-once incentive, clashed with the Hotshots at press time last night.
Phoenix failed to atone for an 86-92 loss to Meralco last March 5 and kissed its season goodbye.
Tropang Giga coach Jojo Lastimosa said his charges got frustrated after their foes refused to lie down and die in the first half.
“I think there were just frustrations in the first half because probably we were expecting too much from ourselves that Phoenix is a pushover but they’re not and when we could not get the lead, everyone was frustrated,” Lastimosa said. “Everyone was frustrated, not only the players but even the coaches. At halftime we said we need to bring the frustration level down.
“We cannot play frustrated basketball and that’s just all we needed– to calm down, pick their spots, and play their game,” he added.
TNT held a slim 66-64 lead at the break but broke the game wide-open in the third canto behind Khobuntin, Pogoy, and Justin Chua.
