ANTIPOLO — Eighth-ranked TNT completed its ouster of top seed NLEX by way of a 118-112 decision in the knockout match to settle the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup semifinal cast at the Ynares Center here, Saturday night.
This is only the fifth time in league history that the leaders of the elimination round were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
The Tropang 5G set the pace early and led by ten at the half, then went ablaze in the third with a 37-point production for a 101-84 lead entering the fourth — a lead good enough to ward off their foes en route to making history.
With the turnaround, the flagship MVP franchise has become the first team since 2019 to overcome a twice-to-win disadvantage since NorthPort did so during the Governors’ Cup quarters against, coincidentally, the Road Warriors.
(C) PBA Images
“We finally got the lineup we wanted on the floor,” said head coach Chot Reyes as he reflected on their turnaround after a rough elimination round.
Bol Bol starred in the victory with 35 points and 13 rebounds, but similar to their previous game, the former NBA pro received plenty of support.
Roger Pogoy, for one, finished with 21 points and six rebounds. Calvin Oftana fired 20 alongside seven rebounds, while Jayson Castro added 14 markers and eight assists as the same troika from the last time out came through again.
“This is the first time in this conference that Roger started a game. He came off an injury, and we managed his minutes early on,” said Reyes.
“Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser also came off an injury. When we managed to bring everybody in, that’s big in our turnaround,” he added.
(C) PBA Images
TNT will soon shift its attention to Meralco in the best-of-seven semis, which commences on Wednesday, May 20, still at the Ynares Center.
Put to naught by the loss, meanwhile, was the 46-point, 15-rebound effort by Cady Lalanne to lead NLEX. The team failed to advance to the semis for the third time in four quarterfinals while owning a twice-to-beat advantage.
Deschon Winston made 24 points and five rebounds as the tandem carried much of the load for the Road Warriors, as Robert Bolick was hardly a factor.
After fouling out in their previous meeting, the star guard shot just nine attempts and wound up with 16 points alongside six assists. It was an underwhelming performance that likely hurt his chance of winning the BPC award.
Now, it will be a long period of reflection for NLEX before the Governors’ Cup, as a promising campaign, in which they finished the eliminations as the No. 1 seed with an impressive 10-2 record, ended in disappointment.
The Scores:
TNT 118 – Bol 35, Pogoy 21, Oftana 20, Castro 14, Khobuntin 9, Ganuelas-Rosser 8, Heading 6, Nambatac 5, Galinato 0, Williams 0.
NLEX 112 – Lalanne 46, Winston 24, Bolick 16, Semerad 9, Bahio 7, Racal 3, Ramirez 3, Torres 3, Gonzales 1, Rodger 0, Alas 0
Quarterscores: 36-30, 64-54, 101-84, 118-112.
