SMART CLARK GIGA CITY — TNT appeared to have taken full control of the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup Finals’ Game Two on Wednesday night, when it built a 15-point lead over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the third quarter.
That was mainly due to the presence of Roger Pogoy. He was aggressive right from the get-go, stepping up in lieu of Ray Parks, who sat out the game after suffering a left calf strain in the series opener.
But as cliche as it sounds, the never-say-die mantra kicked in for the Gin Kings. And that’s thanks to Jeff Chan and Jared Dillinger.
The two helped chip away the 54-39 deficit. Then inside the period’s last two minutes, Chan and Dillinger connected on a three-pointer each to spearhead an 8-0 run. They tied the game up at 68-all with 21.5 seconds left.
“You got two veterans that have been through the wars, and we just chose that time to really try to spread the court.
“We spread JD and Jeff in the corners. It was up to Stanley [Pringle] or Scottie [Thompson] to try to create and draw the defense, and look for these guys in the corners. The good news for us is they knocked their shots,” shared head coach Tim Cone.
Dillinger finished with eight points and two rebounds, while Chan made six markers, two boards, and two dimes. Ginebra went on to take the 92-90 win to get ahead 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
Stanley Pringle and Aljon Mariano carried much of the load on offense for the Barangay. Still, for Cone, the win wouldn’t be possible if not for the spark the battle-tested wingmen provided in the third.
“It got us back into a tie. We’re down two at the start of the fourth quarter and then it became a regular fourth quarter. You’re no longer trying to make a comeback. You’re just trying to play it possession by possession,” the league’s most accomplished mentor offered.
“Those guys were huge in the run that we had.”
