MANILA – TNT Tropang Giga cruised to its second straight triumph in the 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup with a 112-101 dumping of TerraFirma Dyip at the AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center in Pampanga last night.
Bobby Ray Parks Jr. tallied double-double 40 points and 11 rebounds while Jeth Troy Rosario added double-double 20 points and 15 boards.
Jayson Castro and John Paul Erram contributed 15 and 14 markers respectively while Roger Pogoy chipped in 11 markers, which was far cry from his career-best 45 points in TNT’s 90-85 win over Alaska Aces last Sunday.
The Tropang Giga opened the contest with a 17-5 score on three-point hits by Parks, Erram and Roger Pogoy followed by inside shots from Rosario. The Dyip rallied to within 29-33, but consecutive points from Parks and Rosario allowed TNT to build a 51-32 advantage.
TerraFirma trimmed the deficit to single digit several times in the third period with last at 59-68, but TNT answered with consecutive hits from Parks and triples from Castro, Pogoy and Ryan Reyes for a 90-75 lead.
The Tropang Giga went on to take its largest lead at 95-75 on five straight points by Parks. The Dyip closed in to 95-106, but back-to-back baskets by Parks and Castro sealed the win for the TNT.
Jaymar Perez finished with 30 points, Glenn Khobuntin added 16 markers while Negrense John Paul Calvo and Rashawn McCarthy added 14 markers apiece for the Dyip.
Meanwhile, Rey Nambatac and Javee Mocon came up huge in the endgame as the Rain or Shine (ROS) Elasto Painters escaped with an 87-83 win over defending champions San Miguel Beermen.
After seeing their 65-51 lead trim to 81-82 on back-to-back triples by Beermen’s Moala Tautuaa and Terrence Romeo, the Painters got a huge relief on a shot clock-beating triple by Nambatac with 12 seconds remaining.
The Beermen trimmed the deficit anew to 83-85 on a fallaway basket by Romeo over Painters’ Beau Belga with two seconds left, but two free throws from Mocon sealed the win for ROS.
Mocon top-scored with 25 points, with 12 coming in the opening quarter while Kris Rosales and Belga added 15 and 12 respectively. Marcio Lassiter led the 1-1 Beermen with 20 points.
BOX SCORE:
TNT 112 – Parks 40, Rosario 20, Castro 15, Erram 14, Pogoy 11, Reyes 4, Enciso 3, De Leon 3, Vosotros 2, Semerad 0, Carey 0, Alejandro 0.
TERRAFIRMA 101 – Perez 30, Khobuntin 16, McCarthy 14, Calvo 14, Ramos 9, Adams 7, Camson 5, Celda 3, Faundo 2, Gabayni 1, Balagasay 0, Tiongson 0, Cahilig 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
Q1, 27-19; Q2, 56-43; Q3, 90-75; Q4, 112-101./PN
