START strong, finish even stronger.
Import Jalen Hudson stressed the point as the TNT Tropang Giga let their PBA Governors’ Cup game against NLEX slip away on Wednesday night, 110-108, to absorb their first loss of the conference.
See NLEX comes storming back to claim scalp of sister team TNT
Hudson scored 21 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t sustain the momentum heading home as the Tropang Giga failed to protect a 15-point third quarter lead.
Behind import Jonathon Simmons, Kevin Alas, Kris Rosales, and Anthony Semerad, the Road Warriors outscored the opposition, 32-17, to pull off the come-from-behind win and keep their record perfect at 3-0.
“I think we just got to finish stronger. We had a couple of lapses towards the end,” said Hudson, who added 10 rebounds and five assists, but committed seven of TNT’s 20 turnovers.
“I think they made some shots that maybe were, I wouldn’t say lucky, but a little bit off the ball.”
The TNT import likewise rued the two successive offensive fouls called on him at the height of NLEX’s huge fourth quarter rally.
The infractions came midway through the final quarter, including the initial one that led to a Sean Anthony layup at the other end and allowed NLEX to take the lead, 99-98.
Hudson thought game officials erred on calling both fouls.
“I thought those were big plays,” he said. “Simmons actually weighs more than me, so I’m questioning the calls.”
But he’s not pinning the blame on the referees.
“I won’t blame the refs for the loss or anything. But I think both those are very questionable calls,” said the TNT import.
Again, Hudson said things wouldn’t have gone down to it had TNT managed to finish the game strong.
“We got to be sharper. We’ve got to be better to finish stronger,” he added.
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