Tropang 5G Punch Quarterfinal Ticket With Dominant Beermen Sweep

0Shares

TNT flipped the switch on defense and buried San Miguel Beer with a 33-18 third-quarter blitz, rolling to a 116-98 win in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup. The Tropang 5G completed an elimination-round sweep of the Beermen.

The victory clinched an automatic quarterfinal spot for TNT, which improved to 6-4 in Group A. Coach Chot Reyes’ squad erased a 65-60 halftime deficit by clamping down on the Beermen, duplicating its 93-89 first-round win.

RR Pogoy led TNT's local scorers with 21 points and earned Best Player of the Game honors in the win over San Miguel Beer. [PBA Images] — RR Pogoy led TNT’s local scorers with 21 points and earned Best Player of the Game honors in the win over San Miguel Beer. [PBA Images]

Tropang 5G Erase Halftime Deficit With Third-Quarter Defensive Blitz

Reyes credited hustle for the turnaround. “We came into the game with an attitude that we have to outwork San Miguel Beer. If we just match their effort, we can’t win. The only way we could give ourselves a chance is to outhustle them,” he said.

“I think we did that. When we did that, everything fell into place,” Reyes added. He said the Tropang 5G’s defensive adjustments made the difference after the break.

“We scored 60 points in the first half, meaning offense was not a problem. Even then, down pa rin kami at the half. When we made the defensive adjustments, things fell into place,” Reyes said.

Pogoy, Hornsby Power TNT as Quarterfinal Race Tightens

RR Pogoy, named Best Player of the Game, top-scored among the locals with 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep. He admitted the team strayed from the plan early.

“First half, di nasunod yung game plan,” Pogoy said. He credited the defense for the turnaround: “Nung gumanda ang depensa namin, sumunod na yung opensa.”

Nick Hornsby poured in 23 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals to go 2-0 in the conference. Calvin Oftana added 18, Rey Nambatac 15, Jayson Castro 13, Jordan Heading 12 and Henry Galinato 10.

San Miguel was led by CJ Perez with 21 points, George King with 20, Marcio Lassiter with 16 and June Mar Fajardo with 14 points and 18 rebounds. Fajardo’s rebounding was not enough to slow TNT’s third-quarter surge.

TNT joined early qualifiers NLEX (8-2) and San Miguel Beer (7-3) in securing a quarterfinal spot. Converge (5-4) remains in the hunt for the last quarterfinal slot.