Terrafirma finally broke through in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup following a big 84-72 upset of TNT on Thursday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
After one-point losses to Magnolia and Converge, the Dyip succeeded at last after a harrowing 0-8 start into the conference — its first W, too, since dragging San Miguel to a sudden death in last season’s Philippine Cup quarterfinals.
“I give credit to all my players. Even though we were outnumbered sa players — nine, 10 players lang naglalaro — we’re still fighting, looking for our first win. We got it tonight,” stated head coach Johnedel Cardel proudly.
Stanley Pringle starred with 18 points, 13 of which he made in the fourth quarter alone as he spearheaded their 34-point explosion in the period.
The former BPC was the stabilizer that Terrafirma needed, especially when Antonio Hester hurried straight to the bench in pain with 6:55 remaining in the game after suffering an apparent hand injury, never to check back in.
Hester left the game with 22 points and 10 rebounds but then, Pringle and the locals made sure to not let him see his efforts go down the drain yet again.
Dre Cahilig nailed a trey shortly after the veteran import’s exit to follow up Paolo Hernandez’s own make from deep earlier for the 69-64 lead with 6:35 to go.
Then came Pringle, who went on to score the team’s next 10 points to give themselves a comfortable 79-70 advantage with only 1:39 remaining.
Applying the exclamation point to that finishing run was Aldrech Ramos as he nailed a wing triple to push their lead to 82-70 with 34 ticks left to play.
“It worked, ‘yung sinabi ko na takbuhan namin, and then the defense followed. All my players were dedicated,” said Cardel.
Now, with their morale high again, the Dyip will look to finish their conference with a win against Meralco this Saturday in the same venue.
“After the first win, we’ll see again–we’ll see on Saturday,” said Cardel. “Tomorrow we view all the tendencies, the plays. Hopefully, makuha ulit namin.”
The loss, meanwhile, hardly affected TNT as it remained on top of Group A. The team suffered only its second defeat in nine games.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson led the Tropang Giga with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Roger Pogoy made 23 points, anchored on five triples.
Still, it was a tough one for the team, as the defeat was its first in 19 meetings with Terrafirma — a streak that the franchise had kept for seven seasons.
Coach Chot Reyes and Co. will look to conclude their group stage campaign with a win over NorthPort on Sunday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
Terrafirma 84 – Hester 22, Pringle 18, Sangalang 10, Cahilig 8, Ramos 7, Hanapi 7, Hernandez 6, Olivario 2, Carino 2, Ferrer 2.
TNT 72 – Hollis-Jefferson 25, Pogoy 23, Oftana 5, Erram 4, Nambatac 3, Payawal 3, Varilla 3, Castro 2, Khobuntin 2, Williams 2, Heruela 0, Vosotros 0, Exciminiano 0.
Quarterscores: 15-18, 32-36, 50-57, 84-72.
