ANTIPOLO – Chot Reyes pointed out to the ejection of Henry Galinato as the turning point of TNT’s overtime loss to Converge in their heated PBA Governors’ Cup game Sunday night at the Ynares Center here.
The Tropang 5G coach noted the 6-foot-6 Galinato was the TNT player with the best plus-minus rating before being tossed out late in the third quarter after he headbutted Converge guard Alec Stockton.
READ: Galinato exits early after headbutting Stockton in altercation
The defending champion lost a close one against the FiberXers, 114-112, with Stockton pouring 12 of his total output of 19 points in the fourth quarter and the extra period.
“The thrown out of Galinato was the turning point. Siya yung may pinaka (mataas) na plus-minus sa team namin. And then he got out, and that’s when they made a run,” said Reyes.
The big man left with 1:38 to go in the third period and TNT leading, 83-71. He exited with six points, nine rebounds and a +14 plus-minus rating.
Just a few seconds after, Calvin Oftana hit a three-pointer for the Tropang 5G’s biggest lead of the game, 86-71.
But the FiberXers suddenly came alive early in the fourth behind a 10-2 run that had them making it a close contest, 88-81.
Stockton eventually took over in the homestretch, notching five straight points including the basket that sent the game into overtime, 106-106.
Reyes was not complaining though.
“Give credit to them (FiberXers). They did a great job of goading our players, ang daming nasaktan sa team ko, e,” he said.
“So they played a very physical game. We have to be able to adjust to that.”
The loss pulled TNT down at no. 4 in Group A with a 7-5 record for a quarterfinal matchup with the top seeded team in Group B.
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