Roger Pogoy pulled off the biggest stop of the evening to help TNT prevent San Miguel Beer from stealing their thunder in the opening match of their 2021 PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series, Sunday.
Their more veteran counterparts were looking to complete the comeback from 12 down. But the Cebuano cager did not allow Marcio Lassiter enough space for the potential game-winning bucket – with less than two ticks left.
Time expired. The Tropang Giga walked out of the DHVSU Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga with an 89-88 win – and the 1-0 lead.
Pogoy admitted that fatigue had played a factor as to why they nearly lost the lead. Still, he was glad to see the whole team stick to defense.
“Siguro ano na rin, fatigue factor na rin sa amin. But credit sa team namin kasi hindi kami bumitaw, lalo na sa depensa namin,” he offered.
Besides his defensive effort, the fifth-year guard also led the Tropa’s attack with 23 points on a 45-percent clip. He collected three rebounds, two assists, and two steals in nearly 39 minutes of action.
“Kailangan namin ano, A-game talaga namin, pinaka-the best na game namin kung gusto namin talunin ‘yung San Miguel,” he said.
It was actually his highest scoring output this conference. His previous one was 20, which he set in a 91-76 win over Meralco last September 3.
Such a thing, however, is the least of Pogoy’s concerns. The Far Eastern University product said that it doesn’t matter for them whoever comes up big on offense, as long as they get the win at the end.
“Sa totoo lang, we don’t care about scoring talaga. Ang gusto namin is manalo,” he said.
“Kung si Jjay Alejandro man ang mag-shine ngayong game na ‘to, okay sa amin, masaya kaming lahat. Ang importante talaga sa amin is manalo.”
Sunday’s win serves as a huge morale booster heading into their next meeting. Still, Pogoy knows that it won’t be any easy to repeat.
“Minsan nga daw, sabi ni Coach Chot [Reyes], matatalo pa rin kami kahit binigay namin ‘yung A-game namin,” said Pogoy.
“At least binigyan namin ng chance ‘yung sarili namin.”
