Tropang Giga squeak past FiberXers for fourth straight win

MANILA, Philippines -- The TNT Tropang Giga won their fourth straight game in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, escaping the Converge FiberXers, 98-96, Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

It was a grind-it-out game for both squads, but the ball ultimately bounced the way of TNT, which snapped Converge’s own four-game winning streak.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson powered the Tropang Giga with 31 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. RR Pogoy added 22 markers, five boards and two steals.

The two teams were almost inseparable in the fourth quarter, as they traded leads left and right.

Converge, though, grabbed a much-needed four-point lead, 92-88, at the halfway point of the fourth after a three-point play by Jordan Heading.

Glenn Khobuntin, however, answered with a triple of his own, before the FiberXers’ Cheick Diallo sank back-to-back layups to push the lead to five, 96-91, with 4:14 left.

However, this was Converge’s last basket of the game.

Hollis-Jefferson’s jumper made it a three-point TNT lead, 93-96, before Calvin Oftana tied things up with a 3-pointer with 2:45 remaining in the game.

After costly misses by Justine Baltazar and Diallo, Hollis-Jefferson had the eventual game-winning deuce to put the Tropang Giga ahead, 98-96, with 1:07 to go.

Heading and Alec Stockton then could not connect on their shots that would have pushed them ahead.

The contest then became a fouling game down the stretch. After Jayson Castro was fouled, Converge was still not in penalty.

And with time winding down, Castro received the ball, but the FiberXers could not catch him as the Tropang Giga swung the ball from one player to the other as time expired.

“They're the best shooting team in the league. They are shooting the highest percentage.So that was our main concern was how can we defend them and stay in front of them to force them to miss shots. I thought we did a really good job of it except because of all our helping, it opened up for offensive rebounds and as you can see in the stats, they doubled their offensive rebound, their second chance points average,” TNT head coach Chot Reyes said. 

“So that was the big problem and that was a huge gamble that we were grappling with the whole game... But in the end, with a team like Converge, you cannot stop everything. You have to give something up and luckily we were able to make two crucial stops in the endgame,” he added. 

Rey Nambatac had 13 points, while Oftana had 12 for the victors.

Diallo paced Converge with 37 points, 15 rebounds, two blocks and an assist. Baltazar added 17 markers and six boards off the bench.

TNT will take on NLEX on Wednesday, while the Converge will try to return to its winning ways against Rain or Shine on Tuesday.