TNT has reduced the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup Finals to a virtual best-of-three following a 106-98 bounce-back victory over Barangay Ginebra in Game 4 on Wednesday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Tropang 5G took control late in the third and rolled toward a 90-70 lead early in the payoff period, but needed to quell another late rally by the Kings before succeeding in equalling the series at two games apiece.
Aside from sending the title bout back to square one, the reigning champions spoiled the coronation of RJ Abarrientos and Justin Brownlee as the Best Player of the Conference and Best Import, respectively, before the match.
Coach Chot Reyes and his charges will try to win two in a row–something that neither protagonist has done in this tight championship battle thus far–in the pivotal Game 5 this Friday under the same Big Dome lights.
(C) PBA Images
“It’s actually the combination of guys putting up the points and our defense. It kept us in the game in the second half and allowed us to pull off the win in the end,” said the champion mentor, who’s eyeing his 12th league title.
Jordan Heading starred in the victory with 29 points, six rebounds, and eight assists as his solid shooting kept TNT in the thick of the fight in the first half before helping put together the run that gave them the big lead.
The lefty guard shot 5-of-7 from three-point distance, one of which was part of a quick 10-0 run to give themselves the 20-point advantage with 7:11 left.
“It was a big game, and we needed to come out and win this, and that’s really it. We needed to win it,” said Heading, who already had 18 points in the first half–the Fil-Aussie only averaged 10.0 points in the Finals’ first three games.
(C) PBA Images
Chris McCullough had 24 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists, making up for his slow first half with a big fourth quarter as he helped in the closeout.
The comebacking import fired 13 of his points in the said frame as he helped keep the opposition at bay after the latter got as close as eight.
Jayson Castro provided 14 points. Calvin Oftana made 12 points after scoring just two the last time out, while Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser added 10.
Leading Ginebra, on the other hand, were the newly minted awardees. Brownlee finished with 32 points, five rebounds, and five assists, while Abarrientos added 21 as he got held to just four points in the second half.
Japeth Aguilar made 12 points, with Troy Rosario chipping in 11 as the quartet continued to deliver after Stephen Holt only had five points after erupting for 23 markers–15 of which he made in the first quarter–back in Game 3.
The Scores:
TNT 106 – Heading 29, McCullough 24, Castro 14, Oftana 12, Ganuelas-Rosser 10, Nambatac 7, Galinato 5, Pogoy 5, Khobuntin 0.
Ginebra 98 – Brownlee 32, Abarrientos 21, J.Aguilar 12, Rosario 11, Holt 5, Thompson 4, Abis 4, Pinto 4, Gray 3, Cu 2, Go 0.
Quarterscores: 16-21, 50-53, 75-68, 106-98.
