TNT failed to keep pace with Chiba and suffered a 93-75 blowout in the opener of the EASL (East Asia Super League) Season 2 Wednesday night at the jampacked Funabashi Arena in Japan.
The Tropang Giga were very much in the game in the opening half, leading 41-35, late in the second quarter.
But the Jets stepped on the gas and went on a 23-8 tear bridging the second and third periods from which the undermanned PBA side never recovered.
The scoring run had the B. League runner-up team erasing a six-point deficit and taking a 58-49 lead.
Naturalized player Iran Brown, the former San Miguel Beer import, teamed up with DJ Stephens as they finished with 19 points each to lead Chiba, which only got two points from star guard Yuki Togashi, team captain of the Japan national team in the FIBA World Cup that earned a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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But Ren Kanechica made up for Togashi's low output as he accounted for six of the Jets' 16 three pointers to finish with 18 points.
Quincy Miller finished with a game-high 22 points in leading a TNT side that was missing key players Roger Pogoy, Calvin Oftana, Poy Erram, Justin Chua, Mikey Williams, and newly acquired Jewel Ponferada and rookie Henry Galinato.
Fresh from a silver medal stint with Jordan in the 19th Asian Games, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, but struggled behind a 6-of-28 shooting and was 0-for-9 from three-point range.
TNT hopes to even things up with Chiba on Nov. 1 when the Tropang Giga host the Jets in Manila. (RG)
The scores
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Chiba (93) - Brown 19, Stephens 19, Kanechica 18, Okura 12, Mutts 9, Nishimura 6, Ogawa 6, Togashi 2, Arao 2, Kaishu 0, Sekiya 0.
TNT (75) - Miller 22, Hollis-Jefferson 15, Khobuntin 15, Castro 12, Montalbo 4, Heruela 4, Reyes 3, Flores 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.
Quarterscores: 21-22; 45-44; 71-56; 93-75.
