TNT completed its back-to-back bid in the PBA Governors’ Cup following a dramatic 95-85 come-from-behind win over Barangay Ginebra in Game 6 of the Finals before 14,000-plus fans at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, Friday night.
The Tropang Giga trailed by as many as 11 points during the third quarter but as what they’ve done all season long, the crew turned to its defense to claw back before unleashing the killer run on the way to repeating their 2023 success.
Scoreless were the Kings in the last five minutes while Chot Reyes’ wards had their way on the other end, with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Kelly Williams, and Roger Pogoy joining hands for the 12-0 closing salvo to seal the deal.
Moments later, confetti rained down inside the Big Down as TNT earned its 10th championship overall, becoming the sixth franchise in league history after San Miguel, Ginebra, Alaska, Magnolia, and Crispa to have won that many titles.
“It took a lot of belief from top to bottom, believing we can do it, trusting in our process. All the work we put in paid off,” said Hollis-Jefferson as they duplicated their last Governors’ Cup Finals run, which also ended in six games.
RHJ starred in the triumph with 31 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists as the two-time Best Import won his second PBA championship.
Jayson Castro finished with 13 points, two rebounds, six assists, and a steal on his way to bagging home the PBA Press Corps Finals MVP award as he was arguably the most consistent cog of the Tropa all series long.
The 38-year-old had a hand as well in their finishing run, attacking the defense of Justin Brownlee before pulling off a nifty assist to a cutting Williams for a lay-up to push their lead to 91-85 with 1:20 left in a nostalgic set between vets.
Shortly after, the two and the rest of TNT would be celebrating with the game all but settled when Pogoy nailed the dagger triple with less than a minute left.
Pogoy finished with 13 points as well, spiked by three triples, to win his third league title, although this could be the sweetest of them all since he won it a year after a myocarditis diagnosis threatened his basketball career.
Rey Nambatac added 12 points to finally capture his first crown while Calvin Oftana and Glenn Khobuntin provided solid backup jobs in the conquest.
“Fortunately, we were able to get back to our DNA in that fourth quarter,” exhaled Reyes, who’s now a winner of 10 PBA titles.
“If you’re asking me what my reflections are about this victory, it’s just really the gratitude I feel for everything that’s transpired, everything that’s happened, especially gratitude to the trust and the effort of my players,” he added.
It couldn’t get any more relieving for Reyes and Co. to have pulled it off especially with how things were going early, when RJ Abarrientos strapped Ginebra fired 18 points in the second quarter for a 43-42 halftime lead.
Making matters worse was that the Barangay got into a groove in the following frame, with Brownlee leading the charge toward a 68-57 lead as they scored 31 points altogether in that period alone to head into the final period up eight.
TNT, however, got back into the game just a few minutes into the fourth thanks to Nambatac and a see-saw battle would ensue, although Brownlee would put the crowd darlings back ahead, 85-83, with 4:56 remaining in the game.
But that proved to be the last time that Ginebra would taste the lead. Williams first tied the game up off a pick-and-roll set with Hollis-Jefferson, before the latter scored back-to-back inside to make it a four-point lead.
The door would slowly close for the opposition, most especially when they committed a turnover that eventually led to that beautiful Castro-Williams connection inside that pushed their cushion to six points.
Then came Pogoy’s most important triple of the night — a shot that brought flashbacks to Coach Tim Cone and his charges as they also fell to a three, albeit a go-ahead, by Mikey Williams back in Game 6 of the 2023 finale.
“To be back here and win a championship with this group of guys is incredibly satisfying, both on a personal and a team level,” Reyes said.
Abarrientos led Ginebra with 31 points, submitting his best game of the series in an attempt to push it to a Game 7 but ultimately fell short.
Brownlee, on the other hand, made 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists as he’s now gone 0-2 against Hollis-Jefferson and TNT in the Finals.
The loss, furthermore, foiled the three-time Best Import’s bid of surpassing Sean Chambers for most PBA titles by an import. Both are tied at six.
Stephen Holt added 12 points for the Kings, who haven’t tasted gold since the 2022-23 Commissioner’s Cup when it beat guest team Bay Area in seven.
The Scores:
TNT 95 – Hollis-Jefferson 31, Castro 13, Pogoy 13, Nambatac 12, Oftana 8, Khobuntin 7, Aurin 5, Williams 4, Erram 2, Exciminiano 0.
Ginebra 85 – Abarrientos 31, Brownlee 16, Holt 12, Ahanmisi 9, J.Aguilar 8, Thompson 6, Cu 3, Mariano 0, Pinto 0.
Quarterscores: 21-16, 42-43, 63-74, 95-85.
