By ADRIAN STEWART CO
TNT Tropang Giga weathered Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings’ fourth quarter uprising to take a 95-82 win in Game 2 of the 2022-2023 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday night, April 12.
Clinging to a slim 80-77 lead midway in the fourth quarter, the Tropang Giga got a two-pointer and a triple from Mikey Williams, an outside hit from Roger Pogoy and an inside hit from Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to establish a 90-80 lead.
The Tropang Giga took the fight away from the defending champion Gin Kings after a three-pointer by Williams and a dunk by Hollis-Jefferson for a 95-80 lead with over a minute left.
Hollis-Jefferson flirted with triple-double with 23 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists to go with two steals as the Tropang Giga tied the best-of-seven championship series at 1-1.
Williams chipped in 21 markers, including five three-point conversions, Pogoy contributed 17 markers, while Calvin Oftana ended with double-double 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Tropang Giga.
Despite being tagged with early fouls in the first quarter, the Tropang Giga created separation from the Gin Kings at 20-9 on triples by Hollis-Jefferson and Williams. The Gin Kings cut it to 14-20, but TNT widened it to 27-16 after a trey by Glenn Khobuntin.
The Tropang Giga continued their run in the second quarter as the lead reached its largest at 41-25 on back-to-back hits by Williams and John Paul Erram. The Gin Kings rallied to within eight, but TNT answered with treys from Pogoy and Oftana for a 51-39 edge.
TNT maintained the double-digit edge at 57-44 on inside hits by Hollis-Jefferson, but Ginebra mounted a huge fightback behind Christian Standhardinger, Earl Scottie Thompson and Justin Brownlee to cut the deficit to 64-67.
The Tropang Giga started the fourth period with a basket from Williams and triples from Jayson Castro, Glenn Khobuntin and Pogoy for an 80-72 lead before the Gin Kings made their last push at 77-80 after a triple by Jamie Malonzo.
Standhardinger had double-double 29 points and 11 rebounds, Malonzo and Thompson added 17 and 16 markers, respectively, while Brownlee struggled with 12 points, on 3-of-16 shooting, to go with 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Gin Kings.
TNT 95 — Hollis-Jefferson 23, M. Williams 21, Pogoy 17, Oftana 14, Castro 8, Khobuntin 8, Erram 4, Ganuelas-Rosser 0, Marcelo 0, Montalbo 0.
GINEBRA 82 — Standhardinger 29, Malonzo 17, Thompson 16, Brownlee 12, Pringle 5, Gray 3, Mariano 0, Pinto 0, David 0.
Quarterscores: 27-16, 51-39, 67-64, 95-82./ASC, WDJ