TERRAFIRMA failed to roar back after TNT stepped on the gas in a vicious second half breakaway last night.
The Tropang Giga bludgeoned the short-handed Dyip 133-93 for its second straight win in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson shone with a game-high 37 points, to go with six rebounds and six assists for the Tropang Giga, while Calvin Oftana chipped in 15 markers, seven boards and seven dimes.
Jayson Castro and rookie big man Henry Galinato added 15 points each, while Kelly Williams had 13 markers for TNT, which scored a fitting follow up to a 101-98 overtime decision over Converge last Nov. 10 and jacked up its card to 2-1.
The Dyip, who played without reinforcement Thomas de Thaey (groin) and Juami Tiongson and Kemark Cariño, both due to undisclosed illnesses, failed in their bid to do an encore to a scintillating 113-112 squeaker over the NLEX Road Warriors five days ago and fell to 2-2.
Tropang Giga coach Jojo Lastimosa said his charges just stayed patient and slowly pounded Terrafirma.
“We were talking about the game when we found out that Juami and their import were not playing. I just told them that for a team that you know you can beat and for the weaker team usually they stay with you,” Lastimosa said. “I’m basing it on experience, and they will stay with you maybe for the first two quarters. So, at halftime we just discussed being patient.
“We don’t have to win by 20 points, we can win by one point, it doesn’t really matter if we know that we can beat them but this game we were worried that if they were complete, we know that they are really a strong team,” he added.
For a while, the game seemed like a dogfight after TNT led by just 58-55 at the halfway mark.
But the Tropang Giga outgunned the Dyip 41-16 in the third canto behind Williams, Hollis-Jefferson, and Oftana that gave them a commanding 99-71 bulge going into the final stanza.
A Carl Bryan Cruz trey stretched the difference to as much as 128-88 with 3:35 left.
Javi Gomez de Liaño carried the fight for the Dyip with 16 points and five caroms, while Isaac Go added 14 markers and 11 rebounds.
This year’s top pick overall Stephen Holt and Eric Camson also had 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Terrafirma.
