DESPITE its manpower problems, defending champion TNT managed to find ways to keep its winning streak going while adding to the woes of NorthPort yesterday.
Showing poise when it mattered most, the shorthanded Tropang Giga carved out a 117-112 victory over the Batang Pier for their fourth straight win in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
TNT appeared to have put the game to bed after it took a 111-103 cushion with 1:42 left in the fourth quarter but NorthPort came up with a last-ditch fightback to whittle the deficit to 110-111 on a Roi Sumang three-point in the final 52.2 seconds.
Jayson Castro came to the Tropang Giga’s rescue, booming in a dagger of a triple that made it 114-100, only 33.9 ticks left.
Mikey Williams sizzled with 27 points and seven rebounds, while Roger Pogoy complemented him with 22 markers, five boards and six assists for TNT, which missed Troy Rosario and Ryan Reyes due to knee injuries and Kib Montalbo to a groin strain anew.
JP Erram notched a double-double of 17 and 14, while Castro and Jayjay Alejandro also had 17 and 12 points, respectively, as the Tropang Giga scored a fitting follow-up to their 87-72 drubbing of Phoenix four days ago and rose to 6-2 that boosted their bid for a quarterfinals slot.
The Batang Pier, coming off an 87-97 setback at the hands of Meralco last Thursday, absorbed their fourth defeat in a row for a 2-4 slate.
Foremost among those TNT coach Chot Reyes gave credit to were his shock toppers led by Alejandro and Glenn Khobuntin, who finished with nine points on three treys.
“The way this team was constructed was precisely for situations like these. We knew we will deal with injuries and looking at the schedule, we have to finish our elimination round campaign by July 10, we knew we would have a lot of aches, pains, and injuries,” Reyes said.
“We’re seeing great contributions from those guys (role players) now especially with the injuries we’re dealing with. Injuries are part of the process. We don’t worry who’s here, we make sure those who are here are ready to play,” he added.
The Tropang Giga fell 34-44 early on but crawled their way back and knotted the count at 55-all at the half.
TNT pulled away via an 11-2 windup to take an 85-78 edge heading into the final stanza.
A Khobuntin triple gave the Tropang Giga their biggest lead 97-84 at the 8:47 mark of the fourth.
