TNT secured a twice-to-beat advantage for the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup quarterfinals following a 94-83 victory over Magnolia in the penultimate game of the eliminations at the SMART Araneta Coliseum on Sunday evening.
Much of the attention was on LA Tenorio being the Hotshots’ playing head coach, but that became a mere footnote, as the Tropang 5G took control early and led hugely during the third before finishing strong to clinch the no. 3 seed.
Last season’s double champions finished their preliminaries campaign with an 8-3 record and will now prepare to face, coincidentally, the very same foe in the next round on Saturday, December 27, 7:30 p.m., also at the Big Dome.
And it’s going to be a rematch between teams that faced off during last season’s All-Filipino quarters, which saw the Tropa overcome a twice-to-beat handicap and go all the way to the Final, eventually finishing as runners-up.
(C) PBA Images
“Matagal ko ng nakalimutan iyon,” said Coach Chot Reyes with a smile. “For us now, it’s just this next game, these next 48 minutes. We have to prepare.”
“We know how hard they’re going to come at us, and like I said, it takes our best to be able to even compete with a team as deep and talented as Magnolia.”
Jordan Heading paced TNT with 23 points, 14 of which he poured in the third, including one of his three four-pointers that pushed their lead to its biggest at 19, 70-51. The lefty also had six rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
Heading was also crucial in repelling the opposition, coming through with a layup off a Peter Alfaro foul to push their lead to 88-81 with 49 seconds left.
Calvin Oftana finished with 17 points. Rey Nambatac and Kelly Williams had 11 each while Roger Pogoy added 10 markers, five rebounds, and six assists for the traditional contenders, who finished the eliminations with three straight wins.
(C) PBA Images
Leading Magnolia, on the other hand, was Zavier Lucero with 17 points and nine rebounds. Mark Barroca made 16 points while Ian Sangalang had 12.
Yukien Andrada made 12 points as well alongside nine rebounds in a solid debut for the San Beda Red Lion–the young wing was even part of Tenorio’s closing five, but that wasn’t enough to help his side to the triumph.
The Hotshots ended up at no. 6 with a 6-5 record following the loss, finishing their elimination round campaign with back-to-back defeats.
The Scores:
TNT 94 – Heading 23, Oftana 17, Nambatac 11, Williams 11, Pogoy 10, Ganuelas-Rosser 9, Jalalon 7, Galinato 4, Khobuntin 2, Ferrer 0, Aurin 0.
Magnolia 83 – Lucero 17, Barroca 16, Sangalang 12, Andrada 12, Gomez de Liano 9, Dela Rosa 6, Alfaro 5, Tenorio 4, Koon 2, Verano 0, Laput 0, Escoto 0.
Quarterscores: 27-20, 47-38, 74-62, 94-83.
