SMART CLARK GIGA CITY – TnT Tropang Giga marched on to the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, never giving Phoenix an inch in a wire-to-wire 91-81 win in their sudden-death game on Friday night at the Angeles University Foundation gym.
Main man Jayson Castro, sophomore Ray Parks Jr and Roger Pogoy took over from where Simon Enciso and Jay Washington left off in the first half as the trio came to answer the call for the telecommunication franchise, which swept the final two games of the best-of-five semis to overhaul a 1-2 deficit.
The Tropang Giga won the series, 3-2, to put an end to the Fuel Masters’ Cinderella story in this bubble season.
TnT is in the finals for the second time in the last two conferences, but will play in an all-Filipino title series for the first time since 2013.
The Tropang Giga will meet the winner of the Barangay Ginebra-Meralco do-or-die encounter in the other semis pairing.
Parks led the Tropang Giga for the second straight game with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists as the no. 2 pick of the 2019 draft make his first ever trip to the PBA finals.
He scored 15 points in the final quarter as he teamed up with Pogoy in turning back a spirited, last-ditch rally by the second-seeded Fuel Masters.
“It’s who you play for and this is my family right here,” said Parks in giving credit to the entire Tropang Giga team which joined him as he took Best Player of the Game honor.
Pogoy and Castro added 11 each, but TnT got extra mileage from the contributions of Washington and Enciso, who finished with a combined 23 points.
For the second straight game, Washington started for the team as he tried to pick up the slack in the middle from the struggling Troy Rosario.
Enciso meanwhile, took the unenviable task of hounding Phoenix top gunner Matthew Wright and limited him to a 5-of-19 shooting from the field to and finish with only 13 points in the most important game of the season for the Fuel Masters.
The Tropang Giga took the initiative behind Washington and Enciso early on as the two carried the offensive load for the team in the first half.
Parks, Castro, and later on Pogoy, sparked TnT’s breakaway in the final half, which saw the team enjoyed lead of as much as 75-58.
Phoenix never really got into the game and couldn’t put a run good enough to turn things around for the team.
But the Tropang Giga, the no. 3 seeded team, commended the Fuel Masters for pushing them to the limit.
“Hats off to Phoenix. They really made us better every game that we played,” quipped TnT coach Bong Ravena.
Calvin Abueva, playing his first season back from an indefinite suspension, finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists in a losing cause for Phoenix.
The scores
TnT (91) -- Parks 26, Enciso 12, Washington 11, Pogoy 11, Castro 11, Erram 9, Carey 4, Montalbo 3, Rosario 4, Reyes 0.
Phoenix (81) -- Abueva 23, Wright 13, Perkins 11, Chua 9, Jazul 8, Heruela 7, Rios 6, Mallari 4, Garcia 0.
Quarterscores: 25-20; 40-34; 62-53; 91-81.
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