Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tiebreaker Times

Basketball

PBA: Ryan Reyes makes it rain on Ginebra as TNT leaves for FIBAWC with streak


TNT made it rain from downtown and subdued corporate rivals Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 119-92, to string together its first winning streak in the 2021-22 PBA Governors’ Cup, Friday evening at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

The Tropang Giga sank a total of 21 three-pointers on the way to handing the defending champions a deflating defeat, indeed the perfect follow-up for their blowout win against San Miguel Beer just a couple of nights ago.

The MVP Group’s crown jewel has improved to 4-4 following the win, which also served as a fitting send-off to the team before going full steam ahead in its Gilas Pilipinas duty for the FIBA World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers.

“At least now, we got ourselves back to .500,” offered head coach Chot Reyes. “We’re still a ways far from where we wanted to be.”

Mikey Williams led TNT with 26 points, 15 of which he made in the opening quarter alone that saw him go 3-of-4 from deep as his side began to take control of the match after yielding the game’s first basket.

But the night belonged to veteran forward Ryan Reyes, who finished with 24 points as he went an impressive 8-of-9 from the outside.

Fifteen of his points came in the third quarter. The 38-year-old helped open the floodgates, drilling a pair of threes in an 8-0 run that turned a narrow four-point edge to a 71-59 advantage for the Tropa with 8:02 remaining.

And there was no stopping the TNT machine from then on. It led by as many as 32 points, 118-86, with only 1:18 left in the match.

#ReadMore  NBTC: Fil-Am Nation vs. Adamson clash for championship

“Ryan hit eight out of nine, so we wish we could shoot like that every night. It just makes the game easier,” said the five-time Coach of the Year. “But we know not every night is going to be like tonight.”

Jayson Castro, even with a hurt shoulder, supplied 18 points in the dominant win that saw a total of six players hit at least one triple. Import Aaron Fuller produced another double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

“We liked our aggressiveness and we said we got to figure out a way to sustain our aggression without fouling. That was number one,” said Reyes.

“Number two, we said we should be prepared for a strong Ginebra fightback because we were sure coach Tim was going to make some adjustments. I think we were fortunate to counter those adjustments. We shot the lights out,” added Reyes.

TNT will now focus on its Gilas responsibilities, but will only have a few days of rest before returning to the conference on March 4 versus Blackwater.

On the other hand, Justin Brownlee finished with 25 points and nine rebounds to pace Ginebra, who fell to its third consecutive defeat.

Japeth Aguilar had 18 points. Christian Standhardinger made 16 points and six rebounds, as Scottie Thompson added 11 points, seven boards, and seven dimes in the loss that dropped their record to 3-3.

The Gin Kings will look to snap out of their skid against the Beermen in another marquee match-up on Sunday at 6:45 p.m.

The Scores:

#ReadMore  Balanced attack leads to MetroPac-San Beda rout of Wangs

TNT 119 – M. Williams 26, Reyes 24, Castro 18, Fuller 13, Montalbo 9, Khobuntin 9, Banal 5, Heruela 4, Rosario 4, Marcelo 3, K. Williams 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Cruz 0, Erram 0, Alejandro 0.

Ginebra 92 – Brownlee 25, Aguilar 18, Standhardinger 16, Thompson 11, Tolentino 9, Tenorio 5, Pinto 4, Chan 2, Caperal 1, Enriquez 1, Ayaay 0.

Quarterscores: 34-28, 60-53, 94-74, 119-92.

All PBA games stream live on GigaPlay. Download it now on Android or IOS.

The second game of each playdate is also livestreamed on SMART Sports.

Written By

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




You May Also Like

Basketball

Over the past two games in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup, Barangay Ginebra faced off against two newly-retooled squads — Magnolia, which recently...

Basketball

Japeth Aguilar and RJ Abarrientos powered Barangay Ginebra to a dominant 97–78 victory over modern-day rival TNT, moving them closer to securing a twice-to-beat...

Basketball

TNT was already shorthanded coming into the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup, but it looks like recent acquisition Jordan Heading will sit out the...

Basketball

Simon Enciso powered TNT to a dominant 108-82 victory over the slumping Blackwater, securing the Tropang 5G’s sixth consecutive win in the PBA Season...

Bandwagon Wire

What happened to the Terrafirma franchise over the past year now seems to mirror what NorthPort is currently experiencing. Just a year ago, Terrafirma...

Basketball

Ginebra head coach Tim Cone warned about the potential Magnolia possesses now following the arrival of highly touted forward William Navarro. The PBA’s winningest...

Basketball

Ginebra came from behind to beat Magnolia, 85-81, in another thrilling Manila Clasico showdown to throw itself into the Top Four race in the...

Basketball

Almond Vosotros prayed so hard for another opportunity to play in the PBA that he sacrificed spending quality time with his family when TNT...

Advertisement