ANTIPOLO -- Unruffled by Calvin Abueva's clothesline hit, Terrence Jones churned out another big game and led the TNT KaTropa to a convincing 110-97 win over all-Filipino five-peat champ San Miguel Beer in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Ynares Sports Center here.
Jones collected double-double numbers (18 points and 14 rebounds) right in the first half, teaming up with RR Pogoy and Jayson Castro to set the tone early in this Petron Blaze Saturday Special.
The whole TNT team sustained a brilliant game, and overwhelmed the off-form San Miguel side for a second straight blowout win and a 4-1 win-loss record overall.
Sponsored content:
For the Beermen, it's a second blowout loss after a mind-boggling 88-121 rout by the Stanley Pringle-less NorthPort squad.
"They're a great team, I knew that coming in, and we challenged ourselves to work hard," said Jones of their wire-to-wire victory over the Beermen.
"It's a team effort. We played as a team defensively, and it created opportunities in transition," Jone also said.
It was indeed a team effort where Jones was at forefront position offensively and defensively. The former Houston Rocket went on to finish with 30 points and 18 rebounds on top of five blocks, four assists and two steals against four turnovers.
Troy Rosario (17 markers), Pogoy (15), Don Trollano (13) and Tony Semerad (11) contributed double-digit outputs while Jayson Castro narrowly missed what could have been another triple-double game with 15 assists, 10 rebounds and nine markers.
Sponsored content:
Castro could have hit the triple-double but the KaTropa opted to dribble away their last two possessions.
The KaTropa opened a double-digit spread right in the opening quarter and held a comfortable lead all the way to the finish - thanks in large part on Jones' offense, defense, rebounding and leadership.
In one play, he swatted away back-to-back shots by June Mar Fajardo and Charles Rhodes in a demonstration of his defensive effort.
Meanwhile, Rhodes had another struggling start, making only four points and three rebounds in the first half although he tallied 20 markers and 11 boards in the end.
He was called a technical foul late in the third in shoving Yousef Taha down the floor after a hard foul by the TNT center on Fajardo. (SB)
The scores:
TNT 110 - Jones 30, Rosario 17, Pogoy 15, Trollano 13, A. Semerad 11, Castro 9, Reyes 8, Taha 4, Heruela 3, D. Semerad 0, Golla 0, Casino 0.
San Miguel 97 - Pessumal 24, Rhodes 20, Lassiter 16, Fajardo 13, Ross 9, Santos 6, Cabagnot 5, Rosser 2, Standhardinger 2.
Quarterscores: 35-20, 57-41, 87-64, 110-97.
