By REYNALD MAGALLON
Jeremiah Grey and Von Pessumal delivered the goods as Barangay Ginebra sent TNT crashing back to earth with an 81-67 victory in the PBA on Tour at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City on Friday, July 21.
The Kings’ streaky gunners connived in the final frame, combining for 18 of the team’s 25 points in the quarter to deny the Tropang Giga a second straight win after finally breaking through in the pre-season exhibition tiff last time out.
The Ginebra duo sparked a blistering 13-3 run midway through the fourth quarter which all but broke the back of TNT.
Down by one, 61-62, the Kings went to Pessumal who nailed the booming triple before Grey scored on an and-1 play to trigger the massive run that ultimately allowed Ginebra to also get back on the winning track for an even 5-5 record in the standings.
Sidney Onwubere put up a game-long brilliance with 21 points and 16 rebounds as he kept Ginebra afloat against the repeated rallies from TNT in the middle quarters.
Grey also posted a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Pessumal who was ice-cold from the field with only five points in the first three periods wound up with 15.
Meantime, Don Trollano led the way as NLEX weathered a late Converge storm to eke out a 112-104 victory.
The Road Warriors established a double-digit spread in the final frame with Trollano spearheading a scintillating 17-4 assault which proved to be enough to overcome a last ditch effort from the FiberXers.
Trollano dropped 10 of his 26 points in the payoff period as he powered NLEX to a commanding 108-94 lead with a little over five minutes left in the contest.
The lead, however, would soon get chopped down to just four, 108-104, with the resilient Converge team riding the hot hands of Jolo Mendoza, who anchored his team’s 10-0 spurt to threaten NLEX in the final two minutes.
Sean Anthony, who was also having a splendid night with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists, doused Converge’s run with a layup before Ben Adamos scored another layup to slam the door on the FiberXers.
Trollano also collared nine rebounds while Kevin Alas had his share of the spotlight with 25 points.
