TNT gets rid of SMB curse, punches ticket to PBA finals

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

No heartbreaks this time.

After being dealt numerous disappointments by the San Miguel Beermen, head coach Chot Reyes and his boys made sure there will be no curse inflicted this time as they took Game 7 of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals, 97-78.

The game plan was perfectly executed as the Tropang Giga squad were the more efficient team defensively that turned their stops into points on the offensive end.

Despite a sluggish and turnover-prone first quarter for Tropang Giga where the Beermen immediately led 23-15, the men in yellow and white quickly flipped the switch as they outscored the opposition 30-13 to end the first half with momentum on their side.

When the third frame started, San Miguel immediately went to their superstar June Mar Fajardo but unfortunately, the big man missed several gimmies underneath the rim and only sank six of his 12 attempts from the charity stripe.

TNT then capitalized on San Miguel’s failed offensive executions as their crisp ball movement led to several scores from different players courtesy of the team’s stellar 16 total assists.

The surging Tropang Giga continued the surge and smelled blood when their main scorer Roger Pogoy exploded in the middle of the third quarter and went unconscious from the field.

Pogoy torched San Miguel and ended the rubber match with a sensational 27-point output on top of his four assists and four rebounds.

San Miguel attempted to inch close with veterans Chriss Ross and Fajardo scoring buckets but it wasn’t enough to cut the deficit to single digits.

With the huge victory, Tropang Giga will set up a PBA PH Cup grand finals against the rolling Magnolia Pambansang Manok led by Paul Lee and Calvin Abueva.