ANTIPOLO – TNT overhauled an 18-point deficit to beat Rain or Shine, 105-100, on Friday in the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center.
Jalen Hudson and Mikey Williams were the key figures in the come-from-behind win as the Tropang GIGA improved to 2-0 to join Converge and Meralco at the top of the leaderboard.
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The two each had 24 points but Williams made the biggest basket of all - a dagger three-pointer that knocked the wind out of Rain or Shine's sails after Yeng Guiao's side got within two points in the dying seconds.
“Mikey bailed us out with that shot,” said TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa.
Lastimosa, who is holding the fort while Chot Reyes focuses on Gilas Pilipinas, was a former Guiao assistant at NLEX. He ended up with the win as the Tropang GIGA overhauled a 47-29 second-quarter to deficit.
“We weren’t too far behind so we just told them to cut it down slowly and the guys didn’t panick. The guys knew what they wanted to do because we shot poorly in the first half,” said Lastimosa.
RR Pogoy scored 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from three-point land in the comeback win which spoiled the 35-point effort of Rain or Shine import Michael Qualls.
Hudson and Pogoy combined for 27 of the team’s 44 points in the third quarter.
Rey Nambatac finished with 17 points, while Norbert Torres had 13 points for Rain or Shine, which lost its second straight game to start the conference.
The scores:
TNT 105 – Hudson 24, M. Williams 24, Pogoy 22, K. Williams 13, Chua 8, Castro 7, Tungcab 5, Khobuntin 2, Varilla 0, Montalbo 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.
Rain or Shine 100 – Qualls 35, Nambatac 17, Torres 13, Asistio 10, Belga 7, Demusis 4, Norwood 3, Caracut 3, Ildefonso 2, Ponferrada 2, Borboran 2, Yap 2, Nieto 0.
Quarters: 17-20; 36-49; 80-84; 105-100.