MANILA – Rondae Hollis-Jefferson delivered pivotal plays down the stretch as TNT Tropang Giga pulled off an 81-79 victory over Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in Game 4 of the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the score tied at 79-all on a three-point play by Painters’ Leonard Santillan, Hollis-Jefferson attacked the defense of ROS’ Aaron Fuller for a go-ahead dunk to give the Tropang Giga an 81-79 lead.
On the other end, Hollis-Jefferson foiled a shot attempt by Painters’ Gian Mamuyac and also snatched the rebound away from Jhonard Clarito en route to preserving the hard-earned win.
Hollis-Jefferson had an all-around performance of 23 points, 19 rebounds, five assists, five steals, and five blocks as the reigning champions Tropang Giga took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Rey Nambatac finished with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Calvin Oftana ended with 15 points and nine rebounds for TNT, which can close out the semis series on Friday night.
Tropang Giga head coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes said they already anticipated a close finish in Game 4, knowing that the Painters will also put up a good fight in an attempt to tie the series.
“We never felt that we had a momentum in this game, it was a grind out game, and I just told my players to stick with it since we know that it will be a grind out finish,” Reyes said in a post-game interview.
“I told them at the half that we should prepare for 24 minutes of battle of attrition because we knew that it is not going to be easy by a stretch so we just made baskets down the stretch and also made stops,” he added.
Fuller had a double-double of 22 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Painters, while Leonard Santillan contributed 11 markers and five rebounds./PN
BOX SCORE:
TNT 81 – Hollis-Jefferson 23, Nambatac 15, Oftana 15, Castro 9, Erram 8, Williams 5, Pogoy 4, Aurin 2, Khobuntin 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 79 – Fuller 22, Santillan 11, Norwood 8, Clarito 8, Mamuyac 6, Nocum 6, Belga 6, Caracut 4, Lemetti 3, Asistio 3, Datu 2.
Quarterscores: 18-22, 39-39, 63-59, 81-79.
