TNT tops Ginebra anew to take 2-0 series lead

TNT tops Ginebra anew to take 2-0 series lead

TNT tops Ginebra anew to take 2-0 series lead
PBA

TNT tops Ginebra anew to take 2-0 series lead

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THE TNT KaTropa moved one step away from returning to the finals after topping the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings anew in Game Two of their best-of-five PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series, 107-103, last night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Had the series edge entering the contest following their series-opening victory last Sunday, the KaTropa did their cause in the midseason Philippine Basketball Association tournament a huge favor by claiming another win that thrust them closer to another finals stint after more than a year of coming up short.

The Game Two win, however, did not come easy for TNT once again as Barangay Ginebra put up a tight challenge.

It was a competitive game right from the get-go with both teams’ guns ablazing.

The Kings topped the opening period, 26-22, before holding on to maintain the upper hand by the halftime break, 59-56.

The frenetic phase of the contest continued in the third quarter with the combatants hitting their marks on a consistent high rate.

Barangay Ginebra held a seven-point lead, 78-71, midway into the frame.

But TNT cranked things up thereafter, going on a 13-7 run, and briefly holding the lead, to reduce the Kings’ lead to just one point, 85-84, at the end of third.

The Kings would begin the fourth quarter on a tear, outscoring the KaTropa, 7-2, in the first two minutes to pad their lead to six points, 92-86.

TNT tried to make up for lost ground as the quarter progressed, managing to slice its deficit to three points, 96-93, with 5:56 to go in the match.

The KaTropa kept up the pressure behind three straight three-pointers from Anthony Semerad after to retake the lead, 102-100, with less than four minutes left.

The two teams then engaged in a defensive battle before LA Tenorio gave the lead back to Barangay Ginebra, 103-102, with a triple at the 1:12 mark.

But Mr. Semerad would answer back with another trifecta to push TNT ahead, 105-103.

The Kings moved to regain the lead but muffed their chance before TNT import Joshua Smith scored on a putback to put the game out of the reach of the Kings.

Mr. Smith topscored for TNT with 16 points to go along with 16 rebounds.

Mr. Semerad and RR Pogoy each had 14 points while Jayson Castro and Kelly Williams finished with 12 markers each.

Import Justin Brownlee and Mr. Tenorio were the high-point men, with 22 each, for Barangay Ginebra, which now needs to win three straight to keep its campaign alive.

“As expected, Coach Tim [Cone] made the adjustments for this game and I’m sure in the next game they will continue to make some tweaks. I just told the players, especially the locals, to just step up since we know Ginebra’s defense will focus on our import. Anthony [Semerad] certainly did it for us tonight,” said TNT coach Nash Racela after their win.

But despite being ahead 2-0 in the series, Mr. Racela said they are not getting ahead of themselves as they know Barangay Ginebra is very capable of coming back.

“We are surprised that we are ahead 2-0 only because it’s Ginebra. You don’t usually get advantages like that against them. But knowing the character of that team, they are capable of coming back. So we have to guard against complacency and continue to keep our focus,” he added.

Game Three of the Barangay Ginebra-TNT series is tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.