TNT dethrones Brgy. Ginebra

TNT advanced to the semifinal round after crushing Brgy. Ginebra in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup, 84-71, Wednesday night at the Don Honorio Ventura State University in Bacolor, Pampanga.

RR Pogoy led the way for the Tropang Giga, who will take on the winner of San Miguel-NorthPort quarterfinal series, with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting spiked by 2 three-pointers while Troy Rosario posted 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Rookie Mikey Williams added 11 points, 7 boards and 5 dimes.

“First of all, I would like to congratulate coach Tim Cone and his coaching staff. Facing the manpower shortages that they have, they came out with a very good game plan,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes.

“They really made it very difficult. The start was extremely difficult for us but in the end we kind of talked about it and we’ve been offered 10 days. So we expected that we wouldn’t be as sharp to start the ball game. And so we discussed that we just need to keep grinding and count on our defense to be able to stay in this game,” he added.

The Gin Kings’ failed to retain its All-Filipino crown after falling into the hands of the flagship team of the MVP group.

Christian Standhardinger paced the Tim Cone-mentored squad with 17 points and 19 rebounds while Stanley Pringle tallied 15 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. L.A. Tenorio contributed 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

Japeth Aguilar sat out the match due to an MCL sprain while Scottie Thompson has yet to clear league protocols as of game time.

The scores :

TNT 84 – Pogoy 16, Rosario 15, M. Williams 11, Montalbo 10, Erram 9, Castro 7, Khobuntin 5, K. Williams 4, Heruela 3, Reyes 2, Marcelo 2, Alejandro 0, Javier 0, Mendoza 0, Exciminiano 0

Brgy. Ginebra 71 – Standhardinger 17, Pringle 15, Tenorio 9, Ayaay 9, Devance 5, Chan 5, Dillinger 4, Caperal 4, Mariano 3, Salado 0

Quarterscores: 17-21, 39-33, 66-49, 84-71.