TNT shrugged off its manpower problems by stamping its class over hapless Terrafirma, 107-89, Thursday and regaining a share of the Group A lead in the PBA Governors' Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson shook off a nagging ankle injury to finish with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists and played a key role in the Tropang Giga's 15-3 run for a 100-83 lead, with only 2:34 left to play.
Kim Aurin, Glenn Khobuntin, and Rey Nambatac also played a part in that decisive surge that pointed TNT to a second straight win and a 4-1 record overall that tied it with sister team Meralco at the top of the bracket.
Making the win more impressive is the fact it was fashioned despite Calvin Oftana joining Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Henry Galinato and Kelly Williams in the sidelines due to injury.
"Willpower, resiliency," was how Hollis-Jefferson explained his grit in playing through the injury he suffered in an 88-82 decision over Magnolia last week.
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"There was some pain, but they told me that nothing's broke or anything like that. I've played through pain my entire life so strap 'em up and let's go."
"That's the reason why we tried to really elevate our depth as much as possible because we know that injuries are a part of any tournament, any campaign and we hardly had any practice because Rondae couldn't run on his ankle until two days ago," related TNT coach Chot Reyes.
"I was really worried because we were not able to get good practices until yesterday," added Reyes. "So, I said we just have to rely on our ability to make stops and defend."
Terrafirma itself was short-handed with Juami Tiongson out with a partial tear on his left hamstring and Kemark Carino also sidelined by a groin injury.
Despite that the Dyip, who dropped to a 0-5 slate, gave a good account of themselves for majority of the game, staying within 80-85 after falling behind by as much as 10 points right in the opening quarter.
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Khobuntin, however, boomed in a straightaway triple to spark the decisive surge that was fueled by four straight points by Hollis-Jefferson and a triple each by Aurin and Nambatac.
Put to waste was Antonio Hester rebounding from a two-point performance in a 103-124 loss to Magnolia last Sunday by notching 23 points and 18 rebounds.
Christian Standhardinger had his own double-double of 18 and 14 in a game where usual top scorer Stanley Pringle was limited to 12 points but hauled down 12 boards.(NC)
The Scores :
TNT 107 - Hollis-Jefferson 26, Pogoy 14, Erram 14, Aurin 13, Nambatac 10, Castro 10, Khobuntin 7, Exciminiano 7, Heruela 3, Payawal 3, Ebona 0, Vosotros 0.
TERRAFIRMA 89 - Hester 23, Standhardinger 18, Hernandez 13, Ferrer 13, Pringle 12, Hanapi 3, Cahilig 3, Sangalang 2, Ramos 2, Olivario 0, Grospe 0.
QUARTERS: 30-22, 55-49, 76-68, 107-89
