Sizzling Tropang Giga add to Road Warriors' woes

MANILA, Philippines — The TNT Tropang Giga notched their fifth consecutive victory in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup after drubbing the NLEX Road Warriors, 94-87, Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

After trailing heading into the final frame, TNT outscored NLEX 31-20 in the fourth quarter to send the Road Warriors to their fifth straight loss in the conference.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson carried the load for the Tropang Giga with 23 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and a steal. RR Pogoy added 18 markers, while Calvin Oftana chipped in 14 points, nine of which came in the fourth.

NLEX led by nine, 65-56, after a 3-pointer by Xyrus Torres at the 2:50 mark of the third.

However, TNT rallied and unleashed a 12-2 run traversing the third and fourth quarters to grab the lead, 68-67, after a 3-pointer by Pogoy.

This tilted the scales firmly on the side of the Tropang Giga, whose lead grew to as much as 12 points, 89-77, with 2:54 remaining after a pair of free throws by Oftana.

NLEX tried to rally back, trimming TNT's lead to seven, 83-90, after a layup by Michael Watkins.

But Oftana hit a booming triple to make it a double-digit cushion anew for the Tropang Gihq, 93-83, with 61 seconds left.

While being down seven, 87-94, after a layup by Kevin Alas, the Road Warriors had a chance to creep closer after Hollis-Jefferson missed both free throws.

But there wasn't enough time for a comeback.

Poy Erram and Kim Aurin had eight apiece for TNT, while Jayson Castro and Jielo Razon had six each.

Watkins finished with 33 points and 20 rebounds for NLEX, to go with four blocks and two assists. Alas contributed 16 points.

Star Robert Bolick played off the bench and saw more than 27 minutes of play, but had just four points on 2-of-5 shooting. 

“We had no illusions that this would be an easy game. (2:13) We knew this was going to be a hard game, because NLEX is really basically fighting for survival, so we anticipated it,” TNT head coach Chot Reyes told reporters. 

“We knew that we had to do the job on Kevin Alas, because historically, Kevin has always played a career game against TNT. And that's exactly what happened. Without Bollick, it was Alas who was really carrying the team. So we weren't surprised at how hard it is. And that's exactly what happened. Without Bolick, it was Alas who was really carrying the team,” he added. 

“I give credit to the coaching staff of Coach Jong, that they came up with a very good defensive game plan. They took away a lot of the things that we wanted to do, and we shot very poorly in this ballgame, below 40%.”

The 5-2 Tropang Giga will try to keep their streak going as they face Barangay Ginebra next, while the 3-6 Road Warriors will try to get back to their winning ways against Phoenix.