By REYNALD MAGALLON
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
After squandering a 2-0 series lead, TNT has pulled itself together and responded with a huge victory over Barangay Ginebra, 99-72, to take Game 5 and move on cusp of title retention in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
The Tropang Giga simply went back to what they do best – to play tough and stifling defense – as they limited the Kings to their lowest output in the finals and seized a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven affair.
What was missing in their last two games, TNT’s defense limited Ginebra to just 13 in the second frame and 15 in the third to break the game wide open, 79-48, heading into the final period.
Typifying the defensive effort of the charges of head coach Chot Reyes was their work against Kings import Justin Brownlee who was held to just a single digit for the first time in his eight years in the league.
Brownlee had eight points on a measly 3-of-13 clip although he mostly rode the bench in the fourth quarter when TNT’s lead was already out of reach.
His performance was a far cry to the numbers of his counterpart Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who put up 16 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
On top of his steady showing, he also got ample support from the rest of the crew with RR Pogoy and Calvin Oftana also firing 16 and 15 points respectively.
Kelly Williams, who was inserted to the starting lineup for the first time in the series, provided the spark with 11 points. while Jayson Castro orchestrated the attack with 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists
While TNT went off to a strong start, it didn’t really manage to get some sort of separation early with Ginebra keeping in step, 26-20, at the end of the first 10 minutes of the game.
The Tropang Giga, however, shifted their attack to the higher gear in the second frame where they unloaded a blistering 21-5 run to turn the six point lead into a massive 47-25 advantage.
Ginebra did show some semblance of fight with five straight points that hyped up the crowd early in the third quarter but TNT was just too composed to be rattled and protected the huge lead until the final horn.
The Scores :
TNT 99 – Hollis-Jefferson 16, Pogoy 16, Oftana 15, Williams 11, Castro 10, Nambatac 7, Erram 7, Exciminiano 6, Khobuntin 4, Heruela 3, Aurin 2, Galinato 2, Payawal 0, Ebona 0, Varilla 0
GINEBRA 72 – Thompson 13, Tenorio 13, Holt 10, Brownlee 8, Abarrientos 7, J.Aguilar 6, Cu 5, R. Aguilar 5, Pessumal 4, Ahanmisi 1, Pinto 0, Adamos 0
QUARTERS : 26-20, 56-33, 79-48, 99-72
