COMING off a secondary attack, young guard Kim Aurin of defending champion TNT dribbled past and broke the ankles of Terrafirma veteran Stanley Pringle before swishing in a 15-foot jumper last night.
Boosted by a fiery endgame blitz, the Tropang Giga ripped the Dyip 107-89 for their second straight win and gained a piece of the lead in Group A of the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.
Blackwater eyes a third win in a row when it tangles with NLEX today while Ginebra tries to get a winning run going against winless Phoenix in a pair of Group B games at the same venue.
Aurin’s series of moves–a nifty crossover and pull-up left Pringle down on the hardwood, bewildered. More importantly, Airin’s basket gave TNT an unassailable 100-83 lead with 2:33 remaining.
Despite reigning best import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson playing through a hurting ankle and missing gunner Calvin Oftana due to a hip injury, the Tropang Giga managed to pull off the win, thanks to the other players stepping up and their defense, according to TNT coach Chot Reyes.
“That’s the reason why we really try to elevate our depth as much as possible because we know injuries are part of any tournament, of any campaign, and we hardly had any practice because Rondae couldn’t run on his ankle until three days ago,” Reyes said. “Same thing with Calvin. So, I was really worried because we were able to get good practice until last Wednesday. I said we just have to rely on our ability to make stops and defend.
“We saw in the first half we couldn’t stop Terrafirma. We gave up almost 50 points in the first half. Luckily, were able to limit them to 39, 40 points in the second half but we knew they were going to come out strong,” he added.
Hollis-Jefferson uncorked a game-high 26 points laced with 11 rebounds and seven assists while Roger Pogoy backed him up with 14 markers, three boards and two dimes.
JP Erram and Aurin also had 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Rey Nambatac and Jayson Castro added 10 each as TNT sustained the fiery form it showed in an 88-82 triumph over Magnolia Thursday last week and rose to 4-1 in a tie with Meralco.
Terrafirma, coming off a 103-124 whipping at the hands of the Hotshots last Sunday, remained without a win in five matches in the season-opening tourney.
The Tropang Giga held a 55-49 lead at the half and pushed it to 76-68 heading into the final quarter.
