TNT comes back from 16-point deficit to outlast Phoenix

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The TNT Tropang Giga squad pulled off another stunning victory after erasing Phoenix Fuelmasters’ 16-point lead to win 80-77 and improve its record to 3-0 in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Down big early in the game, head coach Chot Reyes found the right mix in his lineup led by a determined Troy Rosario who torched the Phoenix team in the middle of the third quarter.

Matthew Wright and Phoenix seemed to have full control of the game from the get-go and overran the TNT squad with their efficient shooting.

In addition, the star-studded frontcourt of Phoenix in Vic Manuel and Jason Perkins began to explode and broke out of their respective shooting slumps in their past game.

Tropang Giga then began to shift things when the second half started as they began to match Phoenix’s intensity and offense.

Star gunner Roger Pogoy sank his baskets in the most crucial stretch of the game including a 7-0 scoring run he had in the last frame of the game.

Suddenly, Phoenix’s 77-70 lead with six minutes left in the fourth quarter vanished which led to a frustrated Topex Robinson calling timeout.

RJ Jazul was able to provide some fight for Phoenix as he buried a corner three-pointer to deadlock the game at 80 in the last three minutes of the game but wasn’t enough to hold off the surging TNT.

Rosario led TNT’s scoring with 15, backstopped by Pogoy and Jason Castro with 13 and 10 respectively, while Phoenix had 15 points from Wright and 14 from Perkins.