Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tiebreaker Times
Photo by PBA Images

Basketball

PBA: Mikey Williams makes NLEX pay, powers TNT’s bounce back win


Mikey Williams showed what NLEX missed out on as he powered TNT to a 100-85 rout for their bounce-back victory in the 2021 Honda PBA Philippine Cup, Friday at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.

Supposed to be the Road Warriors’ other first-round selection in last March’s Rookie Draft had they not traded the no. 4 pick to the Tropang Giga, the Fil-Am guard sizzled with 36 points on 65-percent shooting from the field.

Eight of his points came in the third canto, sparking a 20-5 blitz that turned a 59-all deadlock to a 79-64 that overwhelmed their foes.

Williams also collected four rebounds, three assists, and two steals in over 38 minutes of play as TNT bounced back from its loss to San Miguel to go 7-1.

“We took advantage of everything that we work on every day on offense,” said the 29-year-old. “The drive-and-kicks, backdoors, ball movement. Today my teammates really found a way to get me some holes to get through it.”

Roger Pogoy and Kib Montalbo finished with 13 points apiece, while Kelly Williams and Poy Erram chimed in 10 markers each as the Texters handed NLEX another loss after that 2OT heartbreaker versus Magnolia.

“We knew they came from a double-overtime game and we thought if we could stay with them eventually our pace would wear them down. And I think that’s what happened,” offered head coach Chot Reyes.

TNT received inspired contributions from Montalbo and Erram. The second-year guard was made part of the starting five as a reward for his fine play versus the Beermen, where he also finished with 13 markers.

#ReadMore  Three more jins fall in Asiad taekwondo

“He played an excellent ball game and I felt that he deserved to start. But the more important thing was we felt he was a good matchup for Kevin [Alas] as well,” said Reyes of the two-way specialist from La Salle.

Erram, meanwhile, had an added push as his wife gave birth to a baby boy the night before their match versus the Road Warriors.

“Really huge sacrifice for Poy to be here,” said the decorated bench tactician. “That was mighty big of Poy to be focused on this game and get the job done in spite of everything happening outside of the bubble.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Alas led the Road Warriors with 16 points in the disappointing defeat, which dropped their record to 4-4.

Michael Miranda and Don Trollano had identical numbers of 14 points and seven rebounds, as Calvin Oftana added 11 in the loss that saw NLEX fall to a hole as deep as 24, 100-76, with less than two minutes left to play.

TNT and NLEX will return to play on Sunday, September 12. The Tropang Giga is set to collide with Ginebra in a rematch of last year’s Finals at 4:35 p,m., followed by the Road Warriors’ duel with NorthPort at 7:00 p,m.

The Scores:

TNT 100 – M. Williams 36, Montalbo 13, Pogoy 13, K. Williams 10, Erram 10, Rosario 7, Reyes 4, Heruela 4, Marcelo 3, Castro 0, Alejandro 0, Javier 0, Mendoza 0.

NLEX 85 – Alas 16, Miranda 14, Trollano 14, Oftana 11, Quinahan 9, Cruz 8, Semerad 5, Porter 5, Paniamogan 3, Soyud 0.

#ReadMore  Cabagnot returns with a bang, scores winner to break NorthPort's PBA QF

Quarterscores: 23-26, 47-49, 80-68, 100-85.

Written By

Oftentimes on the sidelines. Forever a student of the game. Morayta-bred.


You May Also Like

Basketball

TNT Tropang Giga’s Calvin Oftana may have referred to their recent masterclass finals victory as a “job done,” but the versatile wingman is far...

Basketball

Gilas Pilipinas has kept the same lineup for its upcoming FIBA Asia Cup 2025 qualifier against New Zealand on Thursday, with Justin Brownlee once...

Basketball

Another edition of the Manila Clasico will take place on Christmas Day as the PBA on Monday unveiled the full 2024-25 Commissioner’s Cup schedule....

Basketball

San Miguel suffered its second consecutive loss in the 2024-25 East Asia Super League (EASL) season, falling to P.League+ club Taoyuan, 101-85, in a...

Basketball

Poy Erram burst into tears as confetti rained inside the SMART Araneta Coliseum after TNT successfully lorded over the PBA Governors’ Cup anew. Never...

Basketball

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson won’t ever hesitate to pick up the phone should NBA teams come calling for his services. It’s where he started, after all....

Basketball

Angelo Kouame has rejoined the Gilas Pilipinas pool for the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers. The 6-foot-11 Filipino-Ivorian center, who currently plays for...

Basketball

In just September of last year, Roger Pogoy faced a career-threatening ordeal after being diagnosed with a rare heart condition. Fourteen months later, the...

Advertisement