TNT Tropang Giga hardly wavered even with chief playmaker Jayson Castro sidelined by a right calf issue, sustaining its romp with a 109-96 blasting of Blackwater in the PBA Philippine Cup bubble play at the Smart 5G-powered AUF Sports Arena in Angeles City, Pampanga Thursday.
RR Pogoy, Troy Rosario, Bobby Ray Parks, Simon Enciso and Poy Erram shared the load as the Tropang Giga once again took the solo lead, still with a perfect slate (5-0) nearing the halfway mark of the short one-round-robin eliminations.
And the Tropa have no intentions of lowering down their guard moving forward.
"Kailangan may hunger. Alam nila (TNT players) what is at stake at kung ano ang ipinunta namin sa bubble," said TNT coach Bong Ravena.
"We'll not take any team for granted. We'll still be always go hard," added Ravena.
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They came out and did just that against the Elite whom they handed a second straight loss and third in five games overall.
Pogoy scored all of TNT's first eight points, counting two treys, to set the tone in their hot shooting night marked by 13 triples in all.
The Cebuano hotshot finished with 20 points on top of seven rebounds, four assists and three steals against one turnover in another shining performance in what has been a solid bubble stint.
But Pogoy deflected the credit to team effort.
"Sa sistema lang ako kumukuha ng points; hindi individual effort. Sumusunod lang kami sa sistema ni coach," said Pogoy, also mentioning the exploits of their bench who helped out in the absence of Castro.
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"Ganyan talaga, pag may injured, kailangan step up ang ibang players. Tulong-tulong kami," said Pogoy on what they did with Castro relegated to being a cheerleader on the bench.
Ravena said Castro felt tightness on his right calf during the warm-up, and they decided not to risk playing him.
But no Castro, no problem for TNT.
Parks, Rosario, Enciso and Erram helped carry the load with at least 14 points apiece.
Former TNT player Don Trollano paced Blackwater with 23.
The scores:
TnT 109 - Pogoy 20, Parks 18, Rosario 17, Enciso 16, Erram 14, Washington 6, Reyes 5, Semerad 5, Vosotros 4, De Leon 2, Flores 2, Carey 0, Alejandro 0.
Blackwater 96 - Trollano 23, Belo 16, Tolomia 12, Golla 9,Sumang 8, Daquioag 8, Gabriel 7, Canaleta 3, Salem 3, Dennison 3, Dario 2, Desiderio 2, Shaw 0, Magat 0, Escoto 0.
Quarters:34-25, 61-49, 87-73, 109-96.
