Roger Pogoy and Mikey Williams both clicked at the most opportune time as TNT bounced back big to beat Ginebra, 95-82, to take Game 2 of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals, Wednesday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The spitfire duo connected on timely three-pointers down the stretch, which powered a 13-4 finishing kick that helped the Tropang Giga avoid going to a precarious position and instead tie the series at one game apiece.
Williams finished with 21 points while Pogoy regained his groove and supplied 17 markers as the two combined for eight of the team’s 15 treys.
“Guys like that, they don’t stop shooting,” said head coach Jojo Lastimosa, whose team as a whole shot 43-percent from the field.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson paced TNT with 23 points, 19 rebounds, nine assists although it was his defense against counterpart Justin Brownlee that drew praises from the cage legend turned bench tactician.
The three-time Best Import was held to just 12 points on 3-of-16 field goal shooting — 0-for-5 from deep — alongside 10 boards and eight dimes.
“The guy here put all his energy on defending Brownlee,” said Lastimosa. “I told Rondae at halftime, even if he doesn’t score as much for as long as Brownlee doesn’t score, other guys are going to pick up the scoring for him.
“He did some scoring in the second half, which is a good thing, but Rondae took the challenge of guarding Brownlee pretty much the whole game,” he added.
Calvin Oftana was solid as well in the victory, coming through with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and two steals without a turnover in 32 minutes off the bench.
“At the end of the day, it’s the will to win. We stayed resilient. They made runs. We believe in the system,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
TNT managed to pull through despite learning earlier in the day that Justin Chua will be out for several months due to ACL and meniscal tears on his right knee.
“He suffered an ACL tear and a meniscal tear. It’s just too bad. But I believe in the guys that we have right now. Next man up,” Lastimosa said.
Ginebra, on the other hand, was led by Christian Standhardinger with 29 points and 11 rebounds on a rare night its usual leader got checked.
Jamie Malonzo had 17 points while reigning MVP Scottie Thompson had his own double-double with 16 markers and 10 boards for the Kings, who couldn’t complete the comeback from a 16-point second-quarter deficit.
Game 3 is on Friday, 5:45 p.m. still at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
TNT 95 – Hollis-Jefferson 23, M.Williams 21, Pogoy 17, Oftana 14, Khobuntin 8, Castro 8, Erram 4, Montalbo 0, Marcelo 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.
Ginebra 82 – Standhardinger 29, Malonzo 17, Thompson 16, Brownlee 12, Pringle 5, Gray 3, Pinto 0, David 0, Mariano 0.
Quarterscores: 27-16, 51-39, 67-64, 95-82.
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The 2023 PBA Governors Cup Finals is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
