POY Erram rose to the occasion, scoring 27 points to lead TNT to a 102-83 rout of Meralco on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena that moved it a win away from a place in the PBA 50th Season Philippine Cup Finals.
Erram had 21 in the first half alone before his teammates picked up the scoring cudgels in the blowout victory for a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven semifinals against a Meralco side that played without injured star Chris Newsome.
READ Chot fears losing Roger Pogoy for rest of Philippine Cup playoffs
TNT can book a place in a fourth successive PBA Finals with another win in Game 5 on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Newsome showed up in uniform but only to support and cheer his teammates from the bench.
TNT also lost Roger Pogoy for a big chunk of the game due to a hamstring injury.
“I think there is no secret that we got a break because Chris Newsome didn’t play. But same thing happened to us, Roger in the first quarter,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes. “That kinda evened it out and that became our focus.
“Without a Roger, the only way we are going to win was on defense. And I think that’s what we did,” said Reyes.
Erram already had 12 points in first quarter to set the tone for the Tropang 5G. He was also a perfect 8-of-8 at the half.
The Tropang 5G later led by as many as 24 points, 84-60, in the second half.
Without Newsome, Chris Banchero, Cliff Hodge, and CJ Cansino took the scoring load, combining for 53 points.
The scores:
TNT 102 – Erram 27, Heading 15, Oftana 14, Aurin 10, Williams 7, Galinato 7, Ferrer 7, Ganuelas-Rosser 6, Khobuntin 4, Jalalon 2, Nieto 2, Hill 1, Enciso 0, Nambatac 0, Pogoy 0.
Meralco 83 – Banchero 19, Hodge 17, Cansino 17, Black 8, Caram 8, Almazan 7, Quinto 3, Rios 2, Maliksi 2, Jose 0, Bates 0.
Quarters: 20-19; 45-38; 72-56; 102-83.
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