ANTIPOLO - TNT became the fifth No. 8 seed in PBA history to advance to the semifinals after upsetting top-ranked NLEX, 118-112, on Saturday in the Commissioner's Cup at the Ynares Center.
Bol Bol, Calvin Oftana, and RR Pogoy kept TNT's title-retention bid alive to complete the upset over NLEX by overcoming a twice-to-win disadvantage.
The Tropang 5G joined Barangay Ginebra (1999 All-Filipino Cup), San Miguel (2002 Governors' Cup), Powerade (2011-12 Philippine Cup), and NorthPort (2019 Governors' Cup) among the teams that won the quarterfinals as the No. 8 seed.
The Road Warriors have now been ousted twice as the No. 1-ranked team in franchise history, the first one when the Batang Pier eliminated them seven years ago.
Bol Bol had 35 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks, but got huge support once again from the locals led by RR Pogoy, who had 21 points and six rebounds.
“We didn't look at it as pressure. We looked at it with excitement,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes on overcoming the pressure of being in twice-to-win situation.
"We reframed the way we looked at the twice-to-beat. Instead of making it a pressure for us, my first words in practice was we have nothing to lose. Twice-to-win tayo, we have nothing to lose."
Calvin Oftana also had 20 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, while Jayson Castro had 14 points and eight rebounds in the win.
Cady Lalanne had 46 points and 15 rebounds for the Road Warriors in a stunning end to their campaign where they finished the eliminations with a 10-2 win-loss record.
The scores:
TNT 118 – Bol 35, Pogoy 21, Oftana 20, Castro 14, Khobuntin 9, Ganuelas-Rosser 8, Heading 6, Nambatac 5, Galinato 0, Williams 0.
NLEX 112 – Lalanne 46, Winston 24, Bolick 16, Semerad 9, Bahio 7, Racal 3, Ramirez 3, Torres 3, Gonzales 1, Rodger 0, Alas 0.
Quarters: 36-30; 64-54; 101-84; 118-112.
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