THE hard way, TNT rebounded from a loss to Barangay Ginebra the last time out and thus stayed in a good position to make the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs.
It took the Tropang Giga a great second half to survive a woeful first half, salvaging a 108-101 win over the back-to-the-wall Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
RR Pogoy, Kim Aurin, Calvin Oftana, Kelly Williams and Glenn Khobuntin joined forces in a fiery siege in the third to get TNT into the game, and the Tropang Giga fought on, completing a remarkable triumph from 20 down at the half.
"The most important was that at halftime we felt that we're not giving up. We're in the belief that we could still win the game," said coach Chot Reyes shortly after the win that kept the Tropang Giga at fifth spot with a 5-4 win-loss slate.
The Tropang Giga actually trailed by as many as 23, 39-62, before unloading a massive 42-19 salvo in the third for a fightback leading to the seven-point victory.
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It was a heartbreaker for the Fuel Masters who dropped down to 11th place at 3-6.
"We first narrowed our focus on stopping their three-point shooting. We adjusted our defense to take that away," said Reyes.
After letting the Fuel Masters drain 10 treys in taking the first half st 62-42, the Tropang Giga worked hard to limit Phoenix to two in the last two quarters.
And interestingly, the Tropang Giga had their own barrage of triples -- 6-of-7 -- to fuel their crucial third-quarter tear.
Aurin was 3-of-3, Khobuntin 2-of-2 and Oftana 1-of-1 in that fateful third canto.
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In the end, they were three of five TNT players who collected double-digit outputs.
Pogoy led the TNT scoring parade with 23 points that went with eight rebounds while Williams had a double-double game with 17 and 13 rebounds.
Oftana narrowly missed a double-double with 19 markers and nine boards as Aurin and Khobuntin chipped 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Jason Perkins led all scorers with 26 but was held to five in the second half.
The TNT coach lauded Williams for his defensive effort on Perkins.(SB)
The Scores:
TNT 108 - Pogoy 23, Oftana 19, Williams 17, Aurin 12, Khobuntin 11, Castro 7, B.Ganuelas-Rosser 7, Montalbo 4, Heruela 3, Ponferrada 2, Reyes 2, Galinato 0, M.Ganuelas-Rosser 0, Ebona 0.
PHOENIX 101 - Perkins 26, Alejandro 16, Tuffin 13, Rivero 11, Salado 10, Jasul 8, Muyang 4, Mocon 4, Garcia 3, Daves 3, Soyud 2, Lalata 1, Verano 0, Camacho 0.
QUARTERS: 22-29, 42-62, 84-81, 108-101
